Let's Roar
by Sanity Challenged
Summary: His music saved her. Lucy Heartfilia never thought that she would be able to meet her favorite band Roar, but sometimes fate has a funny way of making sure that two people belong together. But first find out whether or not she presses charges against the lead singer for accidentally stealing her car! I don't own any FT characters, that is Hiro's territory!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The crowd was huge, that was all Lucy could grasp at that moment. She wondered if she would even be able to get a ticket by this point. There were just too many people. Lucy lowered her head in defeat but a small smile flickered on her face as she heard her mother in her head. Her mother would have told her off with her giving up so easily just because there was a crowd of people in front of her. Lucy grinned as she held her head up high, her eyes holding defiance for the outcome. She grew worried as the people in front of her started walking away from the line and back towards the parking lot. She slowly made her way to the front and her heart plummeted as she saw a big sign crossing out the bands name. Lucy couldn't help but stare at the big block letters that were in red spelling out the words **SOLD OUT**.

Lucy sighed heavily before making her way down a back alley. She looked around cautiously as she did so. She may have lived in Magnolia for the last couple of weeks with nothing happening but she knew that you can get mugged anywhere. Keeping an eye out she made it to the other side of the alley where she had parked her car. She had thought that parking behind the building would be a smarter move than parking where anyone could have gotten their ticket stolen. Unclipping her keys from her belt loop, Lucy began unlocking her car when a loud bang had her whipping around. Lucy watched as the back door to the concert hall swung open with another bang and someone stumbled out. Putting her keys back on her belt loop, Lucy rushed over to see if the person was ok only for said person to start throwing up. She grimaced as she reached out and slowly started rubbing their back in small circles. Once they were finally done emptying the contents of their stomach, Lucy realized that the person was really a small girl with long blue hair.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked softly as she continued to rub circles on the girls back. She received a shaky nod and Lucy let out a relieved puff of air. "Thank goodness... do you want some help getting back inside?"

"Yes... please..." The girl slowly started to rise to her feet and Lucy noticed that the girl was extremely petite, and that she herself was taller than the bluenette.

Lucy slowly helped the girl back into the building and they quickly came to a chair and she helped lower the girl into it. Lucy then hunched down onto her knees and waited for the other girl to look at her. It didn't take long as intelligent hazel eyes peered up to look at her helper moments later, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you so much."

Lucy waved her hands in front of her waving off the thanks. "It's perfectly fine, I'm just glad that you're feeling alright. What happened?"

"I think I ate something that just didn't quite agree with me." The girl laughed sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I'm Levy by the way." The blue haired girl suddenly introduced herself.

"I'm Lucy." Lucy smiled at her new acquaintance. Suddenly a loud roar of people erupted them and Lucy frowned in a sudden depression.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Levy asked as she noticed the girl slump her shoulders.

Lucy smiled slightly. "I really wanted to see this concert by _Roar_ , but it's cool." The girl smiled. "Maybe next time I will." She suddenly looked around and noticed that they were backstage, not wanting to get in trouble, Lucy quickly stood up. "I better get going. I don't have a ticket and I would hate to get kicked out for sneaking in. It was really nice to meet you Levy! I hope you feel better." Lucy turned around and started back the way they had come in when Levy's voice reached her ears and she turned around again to view the bluenette.

"I said I have an extra ticket if you would like to see the concert." Levy grinned. "Think of it as a thank you for helping me out back there." She pointed to the door.

Lucy considered the girl for a moment. She didn't think it was a great idea to take a virtual stranger up on her offer but at the same time she was almost desperate to see the concert. She bit her lip in thought before finally coming to a decision, her mother's voice still echoing in her head from earlier. She looked at the ticket that Levy had reached out before reaching out herself and grabbing the ticket. As soon as it was in her hands, Lucy's excitement grew with every beat of her heart. "Is this truly alright?" She asked the other girl and only received a grin in reply. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" Lucy then raced back to Levy and gave her a hug. "I'm so excited! I get to see _Roar_!"

"And that's not all." Levy grinned cheekily before she swooped something over Lucy's head.

"What?" Lucy looked down and her eyes widened as she saw V.I.P. on a little card that was around her neck. "Levy... what...?"

"I'm Levy McGarden, the assistant production manager for _Roar_!" The bluenette winked at Lucy who stood in shock at the girl.

"Are you serious?" Lucy whispered.

"Yup! Thanks again for helping me! I'll show you where you can go for that ticket. Just stick close to me alright? It gets kind of hectic back here." Levy commented before standing up and slowly walking further into the back of the concert hall.

Lucy stood in shock for a few brief seconds before running after the petite girl and catching up. She watched as Levy grabbed a nearby water and then put a headset onto her head, pushing back her bangs before she started barking orders to some of the other people that they came across. Levy took a swig of water before turning around and offering Lucy a drink as well. As she was still processing what was happening, Lucy took up her offer and took a tentative sip of water. The cool liquid was wonderful on her suddenly parched throat and she took another sip before capping the bottle and holding onto it for Levy. She watched as other people milled about aimlessly when she suddenly bumped into someone making her fall to the ground, landing hard on her ass. Looking up to see what she bumped into, she quickly paled as she realized she it was really a whom.

Long black hair that was pushed back from their forehead and secured with a yellow bandanna, piercing blood red eyes, and Lucy immediately noticed all of the piercings that bedazzled their face and arms. It was Gajeel, _Roar_ 's drummer. Lucy stood up hastily and was about to apologize when Levy suddenly appeared beside her.

"Gajeel! What are you doing back here! You're supposed to be onstage with Natsu and the others!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes, a dark look on his face and then raised his hand for them to see a broken drumstick. "Easy Shrimp, just came to get a new pair of drumsticks." He said, his voice gruff from non-use. "Who's the bunny girl?"

Lucy raised her eyebrow at the sound of Bunny Girl. "Excuse me?"

Gajeel ignored her as he handed his broken drumstick to a nearby person who immediately rushed off to find him a new pair. Within moments he was twirling a pair of brand new sticks around his skilled fingers with a smirk on his lips. He turned to leave when he felt a tug at his arm. Lucy watched as he turned around with a question on his face before he looked down at Levy and another smirk graced his features. "What is it Shrimp?" He said, amusement in his otherwise gruff voice.

"Break a leg." Levy smiled at him happily. "And stop calling me Shrimp! I have an identity you know!"

Gajeel just shrugged before turning back around and walking back onstage. "Yo! Salamander! You ready you idiot?!" He called out. A resounding 'Oi!' reached Lucy's ears before the crowd swallowed the rest of the reply. 'Salamander?' She questioned to herself before shrugging and continued to follow Levy around before they came to a small area where they could watch the stage up close and personal.

"Oh wow!" Lucy looked around in shock. "We get to stand here and watch?"

"Yup! Of course I get to every concert because of my job." Levy tossed her new friend a sly smirk.

"Levy, you are amazing!" Lucy gushed to the shorter girl. "This is amazing! Thank you so much!"

Levy shrugged. "Don't worry about it, it's the least I could do since you came over to check on me, and when you started worrying about getting in trouble because you didn't have a ticket I knew that you were not only kind but honest." The bluenette gave Lucy another smile. "So thank you for looking out for a random stranger. Besides, Natsu is the reason I got sick in the first place."

Lucy's ears picked up as she heard the name 'Natsu' for the second time in the last 15 minutes. "Natsu? Isn't he the lead singer? What did he do?"

"Natsu likes to prank people, he's the only one people need to look out for." Levy shook her head, a grimace on her face. "Him and that damn cat of his, Happy."

"I didn't know Natsu had a cat..." Lucy mused to herself.

"Not a lot of people do, Natsu is trying to keep it that way. He doesn't want his fans to find out and suddenly adopt a bunch of cats just to ignore them later. He wants them to be adopted and loved and taken care of."

Lucy felt her heard tighten as a smile graced her features. "That's actually really smart and thoughtful. I would love to have a cat but I just got a puppy."

"A puppy? Aww how cute!" Levy gushed. "You'll have to show me a picture when you get a chance! Stay right here, I'll be right back. If anyone asks, give them my name and show them the pass I gave you." The bluenette smiled before a frown graced her features and a determined look came into her eye before she walked away to take care of other matters. Lucy felt her palms start to sweat as she nervously looked around when suddenly everything went dark and she snapped her head back to the stage where she heard a slow melody from the keyboard. The bass kicked in and she seemed to feel it right in her chest. The lights slowly started to come on when there were a bunch of red flashes and the stage was suddenly filled with the members of ' _Roar_ ' and Lucy's face filled with absolute wonder and joy at being so close to the band that rescued her from her loneliness. She recognized the song immediately and couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face even more, her cheeks hurting from the effort. Her head started bobbing to the beat and before she knew it she was dancing slowly, not even caring if someone was watching her. She was just so happy.

She didn't even pay attention to the fact that a pink haired boy had gotten on the stage and had his eyes trained on her as he sang the song, watching her dance like no one was watching. The boy grinned a huge heart stopping smile, his elongated canines flashing before turning to the huge crowd that was in front of him and his band mates. He wanted to focus on the blonde haired girl that had caught his interest but the music swept him away as he swayed to the beat.

 _ **I found a note with your name  
And a picture of us  
Even though it was framed  
And covered in dust  
It's the map in my mind that sends me on my way**_

 _ **They say it's never too late  
To stop being afraid  
And there is no one else here  
So why should I wait?  
And in the blink of an eye the past begins to fade**_

Lucy felt tears prick her eyes as she thought of everything that has happened in the last few years in her life as she listened to the lyrics, still swaying and dancing to the infectious beat. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to hold back the wetness of her tears before opening them again and focusing on the band in front of her, only for her to pause for a split second as she caught sight of a pair of slanted onyx eyes staring at her before she blinked and the eyes disappeared. Lucy looked around a bit before shrugging and a smile tugged back at her lips.

 _ **So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair?  
**_ _ **And your moment of truth  
**_ _ **Is the day you say "I'm not scared"**_

 _ **Put your hands in the air  
If you hear me out there  
I've been looking for you day and night  
Shine a light in the dark  
Let me see where you are  
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind**_

A tap on Lucy's shoulder from behind made the girl squeak a bit as she turned around quickly to find a grinning Levy standing there. "You scared me!" She smiled at the bluenette.

"Sorry about that." Levy giggled at the dancing girl before starting to dance with her. "I'm taking a break for the moment, everything is taken care of!" She called out over the music, her headset around her neck. Lucy laughed, her head thrown back in glee.

"Then let's enjoy ourselves!" They both laughed before dancing together, smiles upon their faces.

 _ **If I told you that you're not alone  
**_ _ **And I show you this is where you belong  
**_ _ **Put your hands in the air  
**_ _ **One more time**_

 _ **I've seen a million miles  
Met a million faces  
Took all I knew  
To reach all these places  
And I'd do it again  
If it brings me back to you**_

 _ **So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair?  
And your moment of truth  
Is the day you say "I'm not scared"  
**_

 _ **Put your hands in the air  
If you hear me out there  
I've been looking for you day and night  
Shine a light in the dark  
Let me see where you are  
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind**_

Lucy laughed with her new friend as they both raised their hands with the crowd that they could see and waved to the band. A flash of something caught Lucy's eye as she watched the pink haired male sing passionately into the mic he held and danced around like a moth to a flame. He was just all over the place! And the grin on his face made Lucy's smile even bigger. The boys smile was just so carefree and full of joy that Lucy couldn't help herself as she danced even more with Levy.

 _ **If I told you that you're not alone  
**_ _ **And I show you this is where you belong  
**_ _ **Put your hands in the air  
**_ _ **One more time**_

 _ **Put your hands in the air  
**_

 _ **Put your hands in the air  
If you hear me out there  
I've been looking for you day and night  
Shine a light in the dark  
Let me see where you are  
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind**_

 _ **If I told you that you're not alone  
And I show you this is where you belong  
Put your hands in the air  
One more time  
Put your hands in the air  
One more time**_

* * *

"Thank you so much!" Lucy grinned and gave the petite bluenette a tight hug. "I have to take you out, my treat! Let me give you my number!" It was after the concert and Levy had walked her back to the backstage door that they had come in from two hours before. The concert had gone off without any problems and Lucy was extremely happy that she wasn't a bother standing off to the side watching, and she was even happier that she had made a new friend in Levy. Said bluenette handed Lucy her phone and she immediately put her number in as a new contact before giving it back to Levy.

"Is it alright if I call you Lu-chan?" Levy asked as she took her phone back from Lucy and smiled as the girl nodded.

"Just message me when you have some free time and I'll treat you to anything you want! Thank you again so much for everything, and I really hope you start feeling better!" Lucy smiled sweetly and gave the petite girl another tight hug. "Thank you..." she whispered in Levy's ear before letting the smaller girl go and opening the door to the night life outside, waving one last time and then closing the door behind her. Lucy practically ran to her car in her excitement at what the day had held for her. She pulled on the handle and frowned when the door didn't open before she remembered she had locked it. Shaking her head at herself with a grin she reached down to her hip to grab her keys but her hand caught nothing but air. Lucy's face slowly turned to a chalky white as she looked down at her waist and realized her car keys were missing and her belt loop where her keys always were, was ripped at the bottom.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"I can't believe my luck! Everything was going so well!" Lucy moaned as she got down on her hands and knees to look under her car for her missing keys. She didn't care that she couldn't get into her car, she could always call a locksmith to get her some new car keys and her apartment wasn't that far from where she actually was. No, what she was panicking about was her apartment keys were on her key chain as well. She could always walk home but how would she even get back into her home. Her face paled considerably as she thought about Plue her new puppy. "Oh no! What am I going to do?!" Lucy was in a panic by that moment and she frantically banged on the backstage door that she had just exited, hoping that Levy hadn't gone too far. Lucy jumped back when the door suddenly flew open and the relieved smile slowly turned into a worried frown. Standing before her was a guy around her age with unruly, raven black hair and icy cold blue eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her and she gulped a little. "U-um... I'm sorry but I uh... I lost my keys..."

The boy continued to give her a scrutinizing look before opening his mouth. "So?"

Lucy stared at the boy before she felt her cheeks heat up in her embarrassment. "So can I please go in and look for them? I can't get into my apartment without them!" The girl snapped a bit, her patience wearing thin as the boy just continued to stare at her. Lucy took another look at him only for her to sputter a bit as she noticed that he was missing something. "Where's your shirt?!"

The boy quickly looked down only to choke a bit as he quickly looked around. "I was just wearing it I swear!"

While he was distracted, Lucy managed to sneak past him and quickly headed up the stairs to the main platform. She tried desperately not to get into anyone's way as she searched the floor looking for her keys. ' _Come on, it shouldn't be that hard to find something silver!'_ Lucy thought to herself, finally making it back to where she and Levy had stood to watch the concert together. Lucy quickly got back down on her hands and knees and started searching under the many cords and wires, trying to spot a sliver of what she was looking for.

"Lu-chan?"

Lucy paused what she was doing and looked behind her to see Levy standing there with a very confused look on her face, and that's when Lucy broke. Heat infused her cheeks in mortification as tears started falling from her eyes. It started slow and soon escalated into sobs as Lucy cried harder. "L-L-Levy! I-I lost m-my k-k-keys!" Lucy managed to stutter out. "H-how am I supposed t-to feed Plue?! Where am I g-going to s-sleep?" She wailed a bit but calmed down a bit as she suddenly felt someone hugging her. "Levy...?" She sniffled.

"Lu-chan, don't worry, I'll help you find your keys." Levy tried to soothe the crying girl.

"B-but I've looked everywhere! I don't know where else they c-could be!"

"Well I guess that leaves us with no choice." Levy smiled as she helped the girl up into a standing position. "You'll just have to stay with me."

Lucy gave the smaller girl a small smile but then she frowned and a few more tears trailed down her flushed cheeks. "I can't... we just met... besides don't you live in a trailer and stuff? I would take up so much room! And what if I snore?! I don't want you to have to deal with me and you be exhausted and-and-"

"Woah there, Lucy!" Levy laughed as she pulled Lucy's hands away from her face after her miniature freak out. "Calm down. I don't live in a trailer! You missed the beginning of the concert so I guess you don't know, but everyone here is staying in Magnolia! We're all originally from here so it's like we're coming back home!" The bluenette smiled happily. "Tonight was like a welcome home concert for everyone. It'll be the last one for a while unless it's local."

"What about Plue...?" Lucy asked quietly. "I can't just leave him alone..."

"We're still going to look for your keys but I don't think one day will be terrible, does he have plenty of food?" Levy tried to reason with the distraught girl.

Lucy nodded numbly. "I didn't know how late I was going to be tonight so I made sure that he had a little extra food and I just filled his water bowl... I could always get a locksmith tomorrow, I don't think anyone is really going to be open right now..." The girl sighed heavily before giving Levy a small grateful smile. "Thank you for calming down... I'm just worried about everything..."

"Well don't worry, let's go look for your keys, and if we can't manage to find them today we'll just get replacements tomorrow, alright?" The bluenette suggested and Lucy nodded, still a little glum.

Soon enough , both girls were on the floor scrounging around looking for the keys. It was rather difficult with the rest of the crew packing up around them and giving them some odd looks. The girls ignored the looks as they searched, and it gave them both some time to actually try and get to know one another. They had discovered that they had many things in common besides just music. Levy and Lucy were lovers of the written word and both owned quite a lot of books. Lucy revealed that one day she was hoping to be an accomplished writer and Levy had admitted that one day she hoped to be an inspired publicist after a few more years. Lucy had announced that she was a freshman in college at Magnolia University and Levy had managed to contain most of her excitement as she declared that she was going to the same college in another two weeks time. The two continued to chat for at least another hour before Lucy sighed dejectedly.

"I don't think they're here..."

Levy sighed a bit. "I think you're right... how about we go get something to eat and then head over to my place? We'll call a locksmith in the morning to get you into your car and your apartment, does that sound alright to you?"

Lucy nodded, a pout on her face. "Thanks Levy." She commented quietly before standing up with Levy by her side. "So... where do you live exactly?"

A grin crossed Levy's pixie like face. "Oh you're going to love it!" She grabbed onto Lucy's hand and started dragging her towards a nearby exit. "It's not that far at all, oh this is going to be so much fun!"

The girls didn't notice a pair of sharp eyes watch them leave. A boy watched with curiosity as the two left, the exit door slamming behind them. Grinning in amusement, the boy turned around to head back to the stage where he had left his guitar when his world suddenly shifted and his legs slipped out from underneath him. Falling hard on his hands and knees, he suddenly felt something tear into the skin of his palm and he yanked his hand away from the offending object, hissing in slight pain. Sitting back on his haunches the boy frowned as he viewed his hand that was now stained ruby from the jagged wound in the middle of his palm. Looking around quickly for the offending object that had caused the injury, obsidian eyes latched onto a clip filled with keys. There had to be at least 5 or 6 keys on the small clip. Grasping them in his his uninjured left hand, he pulled them closer to his face and inspected them. Shrugging, he stood up, clipping the keys to his belt loop, and continued towards the stage. He grabbed his guitar and slung it over his right shoulder before calling out to a small girl with dark blue hair that was up in twin tails.

"Yo Wendy!"

* * *

Lucy couldn't believe her eyes as she viewed Levy's place. "Is this a dream?"

Levy stood beside Lucy, her arms behind her back as she grinned at the shocked girl beside her. "Nope."

"It has to be a dream..."

"Nope."

"But..."

"Lucy, it's not a dream. Can we go inside now?" Levy asked, her lips quirked into a smile.

Right in front of them was a beautiful three story Tudor styled home that was almost squished between two other buildings, one of them being a quaint coffee shop. The decorative half-timbering on the second floor made it interesting as it sharply contrasted with the tall, narrow windows that had small window panes in each of the three giant windows on the second floor, the two main windows on the bottom floor, mimicking the upstairs slightly except that the ones on the bottom were arched. She could see at least two massive chimneys on either side of the steeply pitched roof with little decorative chimney pots, that added a little extra endearment in Lucy's opinion. The biggest difference that Lucy could see between the first floor and the second was the fact that the first was covered in weathered brown and red bricks, while the second floor had the decorative half-timbering. It was absolutely breathtaking. Right out front on the beautifully constructed home was a large sign that read **' McGarden's Treasures and Books' **in brown and white so that it matched the home.

Lucy swung her head to the side to look at Levy with shock evident on her face. "You live in a bookstore?!"

"Above it actually." Levy grinned as she set off towards the magnificent home. "My parents met here, and one day the owner offered it to them because she was getting too old to keep up with it. Of course my parents jumped on the opportunity, they didn't know it at the time but my mom was pregnant with me after everything went through." Levy explained a little bit. "When my parents passed away, I took over the business for a few years before I was offered another position with being the assistant production manager. I had my friend Laki take over while I was away, and now we're doing the business together while I'm in town for the next few years. She knows that I'm busy with ' _Roar_ ' so that makes things easier when I just have to jet off." Levy grinned at the dumbfounded look on her new friend's face.

"That's amazing Levy!" Lucy gushed as the two finally took some steps forward and managed to make it inside the bookstore. The taller girl was immediately enthralled with everything that her eyes landed on and it took a while for Levy to usher her friend upstairs to her home.

"Oh wow! It's so nice!"

Levy's cheeks tinted a slight pink. "Thanks..." She said shyly. "I'll make us some tea, and while it's going, go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I'll try and find you something to wear!" The bluenette commented as she went through an open doorway where Lucy assumed the kitchen was located. A few moments later found both girls sitting in comfortable silence as they both sipped their teas. Lucy was now dressed in a very large baggy black shirt that Levy had managed to scrounge up while Levy was dressed in her favorite orange night gown, a pair of ruby red glasses perched on her nose.

Lucy fiddled with them hem of the large shirt and gave Levy a curious look. "So how is it that you have a shirt like this in your home?" She asked a bit coyly and almost burst into fits of laughter as Levy started coughing as she choked on her tea, the hot liquid going everywhere and Levy immediately jumped up in a hurry, a dark blush on her cheeks.

"I'll go get a towel!" She managed to squeak out before making a beeline to the kitchen.

Lucy covered her mouth as a stray giggle escaped. ' _So it looks like Levy has a secret boyfriend...'_ She thought silently and waited for Levy to come back. Once the bluenette did, the two girls cleaned up the mess before Levy yawned excessively and announced she was tired and was going to bed. She showed Lucy where her room was going to be before gliding to her own bedroom and closing the door softly behind her. Lucy took a few minutes to survey the room before shrugging and shutting the door behind her as well. The room was rather nice, swathed in dark blue's, the bed neatly made with two doors on the left that Lucy assumed was a bathroom and closet. She slid the covers on the bed back before getting in and settling down against the pillows. She was extremely grateful to Levy who had opened her home to her, they had only known each other for a few hours, but she felt like she had known the girl for the past couple of years. She could truly see herself becoming best friends with the small pixie like girl. Lucy smiled, as her eyes drooped a little, she was happy that she had met the girl, despite everything that had happened that day.

Next thing Lucy knew, it was morning and she was listening to the birds chirp in the nearby window. She giggled a bit before slipping out of bed and pulling on her freshly laundered clothes from the night before. She made sure the bed was made and everything was in their rightful place before she exited the room; her mouth instantly watering at the smell of eggs and bacon wafting throughout the home. She walked down the short hall and entered the kitchen only to see Levy standing at the stove.

"Morning Lu-chan!" The petite girl grinned at the other occupant with a glowing smile. "I got some numbers for a locksmith for you this morning! They're over there by my cell on the table." Levy pointed in the direction with the spatula that was held in her right hand. Lucy walked over and picked up the cell since hers was dead, and glanced at the notepad beside it, her eyes bugging out a little.

"Some? Levy it looks like you wrote down at least thirty numbers!"

"Did I?" The bluenette turned around to look at the pad that Lucy held up and then shrugged. "Oh well, better safe and sorry!" She grinned again and turned back to breakfast.

Lucy shook her head before dialing a few numbers, after settling down with the fifth number she called she sat down at the table as Levy placed two steaming plates of eggs, bacon and pancakes on the table, one in front of Lucy and then one for Levy herself. After cutting off a bite of pancakes and popping it into her mouth Levy groaned in ecstasy, "Don't get me wrong, I love being on the road to be with ' _Roar_ ' but a good home cooked meal is literally like the best."

Lucy giggled a bit and ate some of her own meal. "The locksmith should be at my car in about a half hour or so." She commented and couldn't help that laugh that escaped when all she heard was another moan of pleasure coming from her new friend.

It took a few moments but soon enough both plates were empty and Lucy was doing the dishes for Levy.

"You know you really don't have to do that..." Levy mumbled to the taller girl who just shrugged in response.

"It's the least I can do after all the trouble I've caused... I wanted to make breakfast as a thank you but you had already beaten me to it." Lucy laughed at her new friends pout. "Don't worry about it."

"Well then I'm calling someone to give you a ride back to your car." Levy declared and before Lucy could stop her, the bluenette was already out the door and she could hear her talking to someone almost immediately.

Lucy sighed exasperated, however the smile that slipped onto her lips said that she really didn't mind at all about the circumstances. Finishing up the dishes and wiping her hands on a nearby cloth was what brought her the thought of how many times she had smiled in the last couple of hours. ' _Far too many to count, that was for sure'_ Lucy thought before putting the towel back where she had found it. Normally, these thoughts would never bother her so much, but that was because Lucy hadn't smiled for real in so many years. ' _Probably since my mom died...'_ Shaking her head to rid herself of these thoughts, she made her way out of the kitchen and into the living room where Levy was just hanging up her phone.

"Good news! Our ride will be here in a few minutes, he doesn't live too far from here so I knew that he was our best bet to getting things done." Levy declared. "So how about we go wait for him downstairs? You can look at the books while we wait!"

Lucy's eyes brightened up at the prospect of a new book or two and immediately left to go get her shoes that were by the door. Slipping on her pink converses she stumbled down the stairs in her excitement only to burst through the door and stand there for a few moments taking it all in. She felt as if she were in another time, another place, soaking in history and ink. Seconds passed by when she made a beeline for the romance novels since she was a sucker for them and then traveled over to the cookbooks, she grabbed a book from each before stopping by the Mystery & Crime section and grabbing at least three novels there. With her five books she went up to the front desk to see a girl her age there with round black glasses perched on her nose, her lavender hair was piled up into a high pony tail and her brown eyes seemed to be smiling at Lucy as she scanned her books.

"You're Levy's friend right?" She asked quietly.

Lucy nodded back a little shyly. "And you must be Laki."

Laki laughed and nodded. "I'm Laki Oiletta, it's nice to meet you." She held out her hand and Lucy grabbed it, another smile working its way onto her face.

"Lucy Heartfilia!"

Laki dropped her hand. "Heartfilia?"

Lucy's eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry..." She dropped her head in embarrassment.

"Oh no! Please, don't worry about it!" Laki waved her hands, trying to grab Lucy's attention, who looked up in confusion this time. "I was just a little surprised! Don't worry!"

Lucy tucked her hair behind her ear in nervousness. "Really?"

Laki gave her an incredibly warm smile. "Of course! I'm truly sorry about what happened, I was honestly just surprised!"

Lucy gave the lavender haired girl another smile before nodding her head, telling her all was forgiven. Laki finished ringing her up and Lucy handed over the money before taking the bag of books from the girl and waving one last time behind her and exiting the bookstore, meeting up with Levy outside at the coffee shop next door.

"Wow Lu-chan! Find a couple of things?" Levy commented as she sipped her hazelnut scented dark coffee.

"I did! I'm so happy that I kept my money in my pocket, otherwise I wouldn't be able to pay for anything today." Lucy commented as she sipped her own coffee. She had managed to get a caramel frappuccino with extra caramel and whip cream. "So when is your friend going to be here?"

A low rumbling sound caught the attention of Lucy as Levy grinned. "Now."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Thank you for finding and liking my story! This is my first NaLu and I'm trying to build up everything which is why Natsu is mentioned seldom and why I haven't actually described Lucy yet. In the last story I had a song in it, it's called "Unity" by Shinedown, I think it describes Natsu and Lucy perfectly which is why I chose it as the first song, so you guys should go check it out!**_

 _ **This chapter is dedicated to my niece Ally as today is her birthday. We almost lost her at one point and it's hard to believe that she's 4 now! Unbelievable! In any case, if there's a song, I'll try to do a quick announcement so that you guys can look it all up!**_

 _ **Thanks again for reading and I hope you continue to do so and tell your friends about it!**_

 ** _~*~Sanity Challenged~*~_**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"I think she's broken..."

"Be nice!" Levy slapped her friends arm. "How would you react if you were in the same position?"

The tall man rubbed the back of his head, a grimace on his face. "Uh... probably beat someone up?"

"Exactly my point Gajeel! I think she's taking it well considering everything..." Levy bit her lip in worry as she looked at her new friend who stood exactly where she had been for the past ten minutes or so. "Lu-chan? How about we go look at some towing companies? Maybe someone called it in and they had someone tow it." She suggested. A few minutes went by without Lucy moving or even acknowledging the fact that Levy had even spoken. Gajeel finally got out of his truck and marched over to the prone girl and scooped her up and over his shoulder. He spun on his heel and started marching back to his vehicle.

"Gajeel!" Levy scolded, an almost shocked look on her face. "You can't do that to people!"

Gajeel shrugged his shoulders not the least bit concerned as Lucy seemed to wake up and start pounding her fists on his back and ordering him to set her down. "I got tired of waiting for Bunny Girl to wake up, so I did something about it." He commented back dryly before throwing Lucy into the back of his truck and waiting for Levy to climb up into the passenger side. Once everyone was settled, Lucy watched as Gajeel started the huge black truck and slowly turned around in the narrow road before driving back into town.

"Where are we going?" She asked glumly.

"A tow shop." Gajeel grunted in response.

"A tow shop?" Lucy blinked in surprise.

Levy turned around in her seat, ignoring Gajeel's protests. "I guess you didn't hear me." She smiled a bit. "I was thinking that we could go to a few towing companies in case someone reported your car. There's not a lot in Magnolia and I'm sure that Gajeel wouldn't mind if he took us to double check. We might get lucky!"

"What about Plue...?" Lucy worried her bottom lip as she thought of her puppy.

"Well what time were ya supposed to meet with the locksmith for ya house keys?" Gajeel asked.

"About one." Lucy responded, thinking back to the conversation that she had held on the phone after getting over her shock of the drummer of ' _Roar'_ coming to pick up her and Levy. That was another embarrassing moment in Lucy's life that she needed to try and forget. She could still hear the laughter coming from Levy as Gajeel rolled down the window and told 'Shrimp' and 'Bunny Girl' to get in, a slight smirk on his lips as Lucy looked at him like a deer caught in headlights, which was the cause of Levy's laughter. Lucy shook her head as Levy spoke up again.

"Then we'll look at the towing companies around town until one so that you can get into your apartment and take care of Plue, then we can go out looking again after, in case we didn't get to all of them." Levy suggested and Lucy had to smile at how optimistic the bluenette was.

Lucy smiled in happiness to have found such good people to become friends with. "Thanks you guys!"

* * *

"What do you mean it's not here! This is the last tow truck company in all of Magnolia! It has to be here!"

"I-I'm sorry ma'am, but i-it's not here..." The owner of ' **Hook 'Em Up Towing'** told Lucy in a rather shaky voice as he glanced behind her at Gajeel. "That doesn't happen to be... um... Black Steel Gajeel behind you... is it?" He squeaked out.

Lucy glanced behind her at her friends with a raised eye brow. "Black Steel Gajeel?"

Gajeel grunted, his red eyes flashing. "Another time Bunny Girl. Do they have your car or not?"

Lucy sighed heavily, her shoulders drooping a bit in her slight depression. "No... they don't."

Trying to be optimistic, Levy looped her arms with Lucy's. "Then let's go to your apartment so that we can get your new keys and take care of Plue! I really want to meet him! He sounds adorable!"

Lucy brightened up at the prospect of getting into her apartment again. The first thing she was going to do was take care of Plue, and then she was going to soak in a really hot bath to de-stress, she knew she needed it more than anything. They all piled up into Gajeel's Chevy before taking ff down the road again. Gajeel remembered Lucy's address from when she explained earlier and about twenty minutes later they were parked and getting out. Lucy practically raced to her front door before coming to a stop as she saw her landlady talking to who she assumed was the locksmith to make her another key. She breathed a sigh of relief as her landlady seemed to be in a good mood before moving closer to the pair.

"Afternoon!" She called, Levy and Gajeel trailing behind her.

"Lucy!" The landlady smirked at the younger girl. "We just finished getting your key done." She motioned to the locksmith who handed the bill immediately to Lucy.

"Two hundred dollars for one measly key?!" Lucy screeched as she looked at he piece of paper in her hands. "You can't be serious!"

"I just make the keys honey. Pricing is through the company." The guy shrugged.

Lucy let out a frustrated groan before digging in her pocket for the money that she had taken out of her bank earlier that morning and slapped it in his palm. The man made sure to count everything before handing over her key which made Lucy's patience wear thin. Grabbing it, she immediately went to the third floor of the building and unlocked her door. "Plue...? I'm ho-" She was cut off as a large white blur tackled her to the ground and started licking her face. Lucy started laughing as she tried pushing Plue off of her. "Plue! Come on boy, I need to get up!" Eventually she managed to get up and gave her puppy a good scratch behind his ear. "Good boy!"

"What the hell is that?" Lucy looked behind her at the remark to see Gajeel giving her puppy a murderous look, but she noticed an almost wariness behind the look and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped.

"Scared Gajeel?" She inquired, a sly smirk on her lips. She noticed Levy behind Gajeel, covering her mouth in her own amusement.

"N-no! Why would I be scared of some mutt?" Gajeel explained roughly, a small blush covered his tanned cheeks.

"Whatever you say..." Lucy rolled her eyes and shooed Plue away from the door. "Well come on in and make yourselves at home."

Gajeel strolled right in, avoiding her puppy at all costs while Levy just bounded right for him and immediately started scratching behind his ears.

"Lucy he's precious! What kind of dog is he?" She asked with a bright smile.

"He's a Great Pyrenees." Lucy commented with a smile. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go ahead and change out of these clothes." She quickly slipped off into her room. Lucy breathed a small sigh of relief after she shut the door behind her. She was beyond thankful that Levy and Gajeel had decided to help her out but after everything that had happened she was thankful that she could just change in peace. Slipping off her clothes, Lucy decided to run through the shower to get rid of any other kind of grime, knowing that Levy wouldn't mind. Fifteen minutes later found Lucy wrapped in her pink towel and blow drying her hair as quickly as she could. She felt much better, but she wouldn't be complete without getting dressed. Shutting off the blow dryer she quickly moved to her closet and changed into a white summer dress with a black sash around the waist. It was one of her favorite dresses because it had the cold shouldered look that she absolutely adored. She paired it with her black and white polka dotted flats before calling her look complete. Usually she would put her hair up in her signature side pony but ultimately chose to wear her hair completely down. Leaving her room she entered her living room only to stop and cover her mouth to muffle the laughs that wanted to escape. Gajeel was now playing with Plue, he was currently lying on his back trying to teach the large puppy how to roll over.

Coughing a bit she laughed against her will as Gajeel practically jumped off the floor. A blush now stained his cheeks as he tried to look indifferent. "I was uh... helping him look for a toy!" He growled out and marched over to her bay window.

Lucy shook her head before focusing on Levy, her fingers running through Plue's fur as he nuzzled her hand, wanting attention. "So I was thinking... since all the tow companies in Magnolia said they didn't have my car, that means that my car has been stolen, doesn't it?"

Levy's chocolate brown eyes instantly lit up as she listened to what Lucy was saying. "Lu-chan you're a genius!"

Lucy shook her head in amusement before grabbing her cell, when she remembered that her phone was dead. "Uh... hold on a minute." She chuckled to herself and ran back into her bedroom to plug her phone back up. Walking back out he opened her mouth only to see Gajeel on the phone. Levy noticed her confused look and quickly whispered to her.

"He's on the phone with the police about your car." Lucy nodded in understanding, her lips forming an 'o' shape.

"Yeah it's a 2014, red, Chevy Camaro." Gajeel spoke into the phone. "She lost her keys, went lookin' for 'em, still couldn't find 'em, showed up this morning with a locksmith and the car as gone." He paused a moment as he listened to the police officer. "Yea we thought of that, we went to every tow company in Magnolia and none of 'em had it." Another pause. "Well duh! Obviously, whoever found her keys took her car!" Gajeel glanced over at the girls and rolled his eyes a bit, as he listened to whatever else the officer had to say. "Just find the damn thing! She's filing a report! We'll be down at the station in twenty!" He growled out and ended the call. "I hate the damn police."

"I don't know many people who do like the police..." Levy commented, a finger to her chin. "I mean, think about how many times Gray has been arrested because of 'public indecency'." The pixie like girl laughed at the memories. "It must have been at least a dozen times in the last four months."

Gajeel smirked. "Yea well, if he would stop that stripping habit."

"Stripping habit?" Lucy commented, a thought striking her from the day before. "Gray wouldn't happen to have black hair and blue eyes... would he?"

"Yup!" Levy looked over at her new friend. "Did you meet him yesterday?"

"I think I might have... after I lost my keys I started banging on the backdoor to try and get your attention, but I guess you had moved away faster than I realized, next thing I know the door is open and there's this half naked guy standing there! I mentioned his shirt missing and he didn't even notice me slipping in to try and find my keys." Lucy shrugged. "When you mentioned the stripping habit it just reminded me of him."

"You'd think someone being half naked would make you remember something like that quicker." Levy commented but shook her head. "Well let's get going then!" She bounded off of Lucy's couch.

"Going where Shrimp?" Gajeel asked as he moved away from Lucy's window.

"To Gray's! Maybe he knows who has Lucy's keys!"

"What about the police station?" Lucy asked.

"It'll probably take 'em a while to find your car." Gajeel shrugged. "Let's just go, I'm sure the Stripper is still at home."

Lucy shrugged before grabbing her replacement key from off of her counter and double checking she had everything she needed including some extra cash in case she found something she wanted to get. She was about to follow Levy and Gajeel out the door when she remembered Plue hadn't eaten. She immediately felt terrible and rushed back inside to make sure that her Pyrenees had food and water but stopped half way as she saw her puppy greedily gobbling up food from in his bowl.

"Gajeel fed him." A voice answered her unasked question. Turning around she saw Levy with a small smile on her face. "He's really a giant teddy bear."

"I've noticed." Lucy teased. "Don't worry, his secret is safe with me." The two girls shared a quiet laugh before hurrying out the door when they heard a loud obnoxious honking from outside.

* * *

Gray's apartment wasn't what Lucy expected. For one, it wasn't technically an apartment, it was a condo. It was modern, that was the first thing that Lucy could immediately tell besides the fact that it was so close to her own apartment. If she remembered correctly she had considered living in this particular building before finding her own little treasure of an apartment. Following Levy and Gajeel quickly to the elevator, she managed to glance at the inside of the lobby, only seeing a couple of chairs and tables before the elevator doors closed. They rode up to the third floor and stepped off only to briskly walk down the right hall. They were nearing the end when Gajeel and Levy stopped in front of a door. Levy calmly knocked on the door, knowing that Gajeel would just pound on the door and shout profanities. The small group waited only a few moments before the door opened and the same guy from before stood before them, only this time he was only in his boxers.

"Oi! What the hell, Stripper?!" Gajeel snapped, his crimson eyes seemed to simmer in fury as both Lucy and Levy hid behind the tall man, both blushing madly at what they had just witnessed.

"What's your deal steel for brains?!" Gray growled out and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're practically naked!"

"What are you talking about? I'm fully dres- What the fucking hell!" Gray fumed as he looked behind him to see his shirt, pants and one lone sock down the hall leading from the living room to the door. He groaned in disbelief before sighing heavily and left the door open as he trudged back into his home, picking up the missing articles of clothing. Once he had managed to get his clothes back on, Gray turned around to look at his two friends before stopping cold. "Hey! You're the girl that got past me yesterday after I lost my shirt!" He pointed an accusing finger at Lucy who waved shyly back to him.

"Uh yea... about th- LEAVE YOUR PANTS ALONE!" Lucy suddenly blurted out.

"Huh?" Gray looked down to see that the button of his jeans had come undone and he rolled his eyes before buttoning them again. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed and tried to take a calming breath. "Ok, whatever, why are you here?"

"Bunny Girl here, lost her keys. Seen 'em?" Gajeel replied.

"No." Gray said flatly. "Is that it?"

"Why is your house so cold!" Levy groaned as she and Lucy huddled closer to each other.

Gray shrugged. "I feel fine." He went over to the thermostat. "It's only sixty in here." He said it like it was at a normal seventy-two degrees.

Gajeel rolled his eyes and started walking towards the door with the two girls trailing behind him.

"Did we come all the way over here only to see him strip and tell us no?" Lucy murmured to Levy who shrugged in response. Lucy rolled her eyes when a cell phone suddenly rang in the room. The three paused their exit as they heard Gray answer.

"What is it now Flame Brain?" He growled out, a scowl on his face before it morphed to bewilderment as he heard the reply. "You got arrested?! What the fuck Lava Breath! What the hell did you do?!" Gray's bewilderment slowly faded into a grimace and he sighed heavily. "You have got to be kidding me... how stupid could you be!"

"Is something wrong?" Lucy cautiously asked. Gray's icy blue eyes landed on her before shaking his head, he lifted his hand to tell them to hold on a minute before responding back to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I'll be right there. Levy and Gajeel will be with me. See you in a bit moron." And with that Gray ended the call and placed his phone into his back pocket before grabbing his shoes.

"What's going on?" Levy asked.

Without looking up from tying his shoes Gray responded, "That damn Pyro got himself arrested."

"What did Salamander do?" Gajeel asked, his arms crossed against his chest.

Gray finished tying his shoes and stood up. He looked himself up and down to make sure that he accidentally strip before grabbing his keys and heading towards the door. "You'll find out when we get there." The raven haired man replied before shooing them out of his apartment and locking it behind him.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Whatever, if we're all goin', then I'm drivin'." He announced. Soon enough Lucy found herself sitting next to Gray in the back of Gajeel's truck who sped down the street towards the police station.

"I'm Gray by the way." Gray finally introduced himself to her.

Lucy smiled before introducing herself to him as well. "I'm Lucy." After a few awkward seconds, Lucy opened her mouth to try and start a conversation but closed it as she heard Gray's voice.

"I'm sorry for yesterday. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, we just get a lot of weirdos that try to break into the backstage to try and steal things or get autographs and what not. It's pretty strict since the band is famous." Gray shrugged as he explained.

Lucy listened and a smile graced her features. "Don't worry about it. If I was in the same position, I probably would have done the same." And she would have now that she actually thought about it. Thinking about her family, she understood exactly where Gray was coming from. Being a Heartfilia, even though she no longer had any ties to her last name since she had moved out two years before, was hard. It was always about status and money, feelings were never talked about, compassion was a huge no no in the business world to her father. Lucy frowned thinking about her father, Jude Heartfilia, and how he had turned into one of the most power crazy people she had the misfortune to know. Shaking her head free of the memories that she had always kept under lock and key, she focused more on the present as the truck finally came to a stop and the doors opened. Lucy scrambled out after her new friends and followed them into the police station.

As soon as they stepped into the precinct all they heard was shouting coming from an office. Lucy followed everyone else as they all headed straight into the office with the shouts. The first thing she noticed was the Chief who looked extremely irritated if the drawn brows and narrowed lips suggested, his eyes seemed to be filled with an anger that Lucy didn't want to touch. He almost looked relieved when he caught sight of the group and immediately pushed his chair back and strolled out the door, saying something about taking their time. The second thing she noticed was a very disheveled boy who seemed to be breathing fire as he tossed more curse words around the room. She saw Gray and Gajeel exchange a look before they both went up to the boy and each took a turn to punch him in the face.

"Oi! What the hell fuckers?!" The boy glared at the other two only for his face to brighten up a bit. "Guys! Am I glad to see you! Get me out of here!" His onyx eyes narrowed as Gray shook his head. "What do you mean 'no? Get me outta here!"

"You stole a car, moron! What makes you think that we'd help you after committing a crime?!" Gray yelled as he got into the other boys face.

"Bad move Salamander." Gajeel shook his head.

"I talked to Erza and she said that you have to stay unless the owner of the vehicle decides not to press charges." Gray said simply. "I just came to make sure you weren't trying to destroy anything." He shrugged and started back towards the door, a smirk on his lips.

"Who's the owner?! Oi! Lug Nuts! Find the fucking owner of the car and tell him that it was an accident!"

"How is stealing a car an accident?" Gajeel replied back to Natsu's demand.

Natsu was quiet for a few seconds before he let out a nervous chuckle and scratched his right cheek. "Well ya see..."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Um... Natsu...?" An extremely timid voice asked shyly.

"Hmm?" Natsu looked up from his phone, his spiky pink hair swayed a little from the motion. "What's up Wendy?"

"I was just wondering how you got a cut like this? It's not very deep thankfully but it's jagged like you sliced your hand on a serrated knife or something." The girl asked, voice softer than butterfly wings.

Natsu viewed the smaller girl and couldn't help the smile. Wendy Marvell was his little cousin, she had midnight blue hair that was usually styled in twin tails, however she had it down for once, the length brushing the small of her back; and wide brown eyes that shimmered with kindness and compassion like no one else he knew. Natsu shook his head from his thoughts as he realized that she was waiting for an answer. Putting his phone on the side table he reached down to grab the keys that were on his belt loop. He un-clipped them and held them up for the younger girl to see, watching as her eyes suddenly shown with curiosity.

"I slipped and landed on these." He shrugged, tossing her a smile.

"How did you slip?" Wendy asked in shock. She knew her cousin, almost better than most besides his closest friends and she knew Natsu to be extremely agile. He could have been an acrobat with all of the daredevil tricks and jumps he preformed for the band, if he ever wanted to go down that road. He also had an unlimited supply of energy, unless his little problem came upon him when he was travelling. Sure she knows of a few times when he's tripped but they were usually when he had just been reckless and wasn't paying attention to whatever was around him, blind to everything except what he was doing.

Natsu seemed to think about it for a few moments before grinning and rubbing the back of his head. "No idea!"

The smaller girl just stared at her cousin for a second or two before giggling into her hand. "Oh Natsu..." She shook her head in bemused exasperation.

Natsu blinked in confusion, his head cocked to the side a bit. "What?"

"Nothing." Wendy hummed before finishing up his hand. "There you go, all done!"

Natsu checked out his hand and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he noticed that the bandage that she had used was a red color that wrapped all around his hand. He wiggled his fingers a bit, and barely noticed the pain as he flexed a bit. "Thanks Wendy! You're the best!"

The younger girl blushed gently before smiling back. "Your welcome, Natsu! But just as a warning, I would refrain from doing anything excessive for at least three days, and that includes anything on the guitar." She said while eyeing the guitar beside him.

"What? You've gotta be kidding me Wendy!" Natsu started whining immediately. He understood where she was coming from, but that didn't make it any less painful to know that he had to refrain from playing any music for the next three days. Singing was great and all but he loved playing on his guitar, writing the lyrics. Music spoke to him on a whole other level. It was how he communicated when he couldn't actually say the words he wanted too. Music was his anchor, the thing that grounded him when his thoughts started to consume him. Looking down at his hand, Natsu couldn't help the curse that escaped his mouth, and he suddenly felt like blaming the owner of the keys for ruining the next three days for him.

"I mean it Natsu." Wendy's soft voice continued and he glanced back up at the bluenette. "No guitar." She told him once more in a more firm voice before packing up the things she had used to bandage his hand and putting them back in the First Aid kit. "I'll see you later!" She waved to him before leaving, her long blue hair swaying behind her as she walked to the door. Natsu watched as the door shut behind her before letting out a long groan and leaning his head back against the chair, his onyx eyes closing from exhaustion from the concert. In his minds eye he saw blonde hair... shimmering like gold in the lights, a joyful smile on her face and expressive chestnut brown eyes. Natsu slowly opened his onyx eyes and grabbed a pen and pad of paper to start writing. He had an idea for a song after remembering the golden haired girl, and he wanted to get it all down less he forget. After writing what he could he gathered up the rest of his things when something clattered to the floor. Looking down, he saw a small silver light and realized it was the keys that he had managed to cut himself on. Picking them up he shrugged and decided to see if the car was in the vicinity, so he placed them in his pocket so that he could grab his bag with his good hand after slinging his guitar over his shoulder. He exited the building after waving to one of the workers that was cleaning, the door slamming shut behind him.

Natsu breathed in the fresh crisp air of Magnolia. Of home. He suddenly felt like running through the streets in his excitement at being back after what felt like forever. He actually almost felt excited about going back to school. Keyword: Almost. He shook his head, reveling in the breeze that suddenly swept over him, his pink hair twisting in the wind. He was about to head off towards his place when he remembered the keys in his pocket. Rolling his eyes, he figured he'd help out the person who lost them by at least finding their car and maybe throwing them inside or something so that they only needed someone to unlock their car instead of getting new keys. Clicking the unlock button he saw flashing lights behind him and immediately turned only to see red. A grin crossed his features, an excited gleam entered his eyes. It was like destiny. He scrambled over to the red Camaro and gently placed his fingertips against the cold metal of the car. He almost got goosebumps from the adrenaline rush he knew his body yearned for. Looking both directions, he quickly opened the backseat door and threw his things in. Glancing around one more time he shut the door and opened the driver's side before slipping in.

His calloused hands gripped the steering wheel tightly after turning on the ignition. The engine roared to life and set Natsu's teeth on edge as he felt the vibrations. Cracking another grin he cranked the music up in the vehicle before frowning and actually listening to the lyrics. He shook his head with a slight smile as "Stitches" By Shawn Mendes came on, the owner obviously liked more than just his music. Lowering the volume just a bit he put the car into gear and almost tentatively pressed on the gas only for it to race off. Natsu grinned as he took a sharp turn before trying to slow down, given he didn't want too, but this was still someone else's car and he gave himself a mental high five for remembering. Easing up, he noticed that the turnoff to his house was coming up and he immediately swerved to get onto the dirt road. After a good ten minute drive he finally pulled into his small driveway and parked, his body hummed from the drive. He couldn't wait till tomorrow to return the car and get his own to go home with. He figured one night wouldn't hurt anyone, and if he really had to blame someone for his rash decision it was the owner of the car.

Locking the car up he went inside his place, and dumping his bag beside the door and placing his guitar on it's stand closer to the back of the living room. "Happy I'm home!" He called out to his feline friend, watching as a blue face emerged from the kitchen, a loud meow coming from it. Natsu rolled his eyes in amusement. "I know I'm late, but you know how it is after each concert." He shrugged nonchalantly before unwrapping his signature scaly scarf from around his neck and then stripping off his shirt. "Gimme a minute and I'll go make us a late dinner." He casually walked off towards his bedroom on the second story and as soon as he entered, he threw his shirt on the floor somewhere and placed his scarf in it's usual spot on his dresser so it was the first thing he grabbed the next day. He changed into a pair of baggy shorts before leaving and skipping downstairs and into the kitchen where he found his blue cat waiting for him. As soon as he entered he received another meow from the feline, this time it sounding a little disgruntled. "Yeah yeah, I'm workin' on it."

After their dinner, if anyone could really call it that, Natsu wasn't the best in the kitchen. The two occupants of the little log cabin was found snuggling in bed, Happy laying up by the head of the pink haired boy. Natsu turned his head to look at his best friend before rolling his eyes as a soft snore escaped the cat. He thought back onto the vehicle parked in his small almost nonexistent driveway and grimaced. He could get into real shit over this, although, he grinned as he thought about everyone's faces if he considered the small heist as a prank. If it was anyone's fault it was the owner for just losing their keys like that in his opinion. Deciding that was the end of that, Natsu rolled over and closed his eyes to try and get some well deserved rest.

The next day Natsu woke up at around 11 and lazily went about his usual daily activities. He fed Happy first because the cat was usually crankier than he was and would start attacking his feet unless he fed the glutton, he then went ahead and ran through the shower to get rid of yesterday's grit and grime. Exiting the bathroom with a huge cloud of steam surrounding him he headed off towards his room. Grabbing something from off the floor and giving it a good sniff to see if it smelled alright, he shrugged and slipped it on, along with a pair of his favorite cargo shorts before grabbing his scaly scarf from his dresser and draping it around his neck. He checked the mirror that was hidden behind his door, not even caring what he looked like but figured if he ran into Erza later he might as well look decent. Smirking to himself he realized that the shirt he had managed to grab was one of his favorites with a dragon's silhouette outlined in a flame of fire.

He trailed downstairs, slipping on a pair of sandles before going into the kitchen and seeing nothing he wanted, he grabbed the keys that he found and stepped outside, breathing in the crisp fresh air. It was one of the main reasons why he loved where he lived, away from the city, immersed in nature. He even had a small pond on his property that he would fish in if he felt like, which was all the time if he wasn't messing around with his music. Taking another deep breath of the clean air, he headed towards his accidental heist, the keys twirling around one of his fingers, before unlocking the doors and slipping in. He casually started the car and drove off after waving to Happy who he saw was in the window. Cranking the music up a bit he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he made it back into the hustle and bustle of downtown Magnolia. After a few minutes of going up and down the street, he finally pulled over next to a little cafe that he knew was serving brunch. Getting out and locking the car he casually strolled over to the place and ordered his 'small' meal.

It was the car's sound alarm that alerted the pinkette first. He glanced up from his food only for his mouth to hang open in shock as he saw two police officers standing outside inspecting the red Camaro. Throwing a hundred on the table he hastily got up and moved towards the back of the establishment when he glanced back over at the officer's and paused mid step as they stared at him. Sweat beaded on his brow before he decided that running was better than getting caught. Crashing through the back of the cafe he surprised the chef working but only tossed a strained smile as he ran the rest of the way to the back door and yanked it open only to ram into someone. Glancing up he gulped as he noticed the police officer standing there with an almost sadistic smirk on his face. Immediately the burly man turned Natsu around and placed hand cuff's on him before the pinkette could do anything about it.

As soon as Natsu realized what had happened he immediately started resisting the arrest. "Oi! What the fuck! I didn't do anything! You can't do this!"

"You were seen making an immediate exit in the presence of a stolen car." The officer replied simply. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you-"

"Hey! I didn't do anything! You've got the wrong guy!" Natsu struggled with the officer.

"You have the right to an attorney if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you."

"It was a fucking accident! It just kind of happened! I want my phone call dammit!"

* * *

"Are you serious?" Gray asked the lead singer of their group and watched as the pinkette bobbed his head up and down, a relieved smile on his face. Gray glared at his best friend, though he would never admit it, his eye twitching a bit.

"OW! What the fuck Gray!" Natsu exclaimed as he used his free hand to massage his rapidly bruising cheek.

"You MORON!" Gray glared at the pinkette. "You committed a felony! What makes you think that stealing a car and even ADMITTING it would let you get off the hook?"

"In all technicalities..." Levy spoke up from behind Gray and Gajeel, still at Lucy's side. "If he was resisting arrest, that's a misdemeanor too."

"Oh that's just perfect!" Gray threw his hands up. "A felony AND a misdemeanor!"

"Chill out before they get ya too." Gajeel's gruff voice sounded out.

"Gray! Your shirt!" Lucy finally said from the back of the group.

Gray turned to his friends, his hands at the button of his jeans again. "I'm stressed, okay!" He hastily did up his pants and stalked out of the room.

Everyone watched him leave the room and then soon out of the precinct, the door slamming behind him. A few moments passed before the door opened again and Gray appeared, a dark blush on his pale cheeks as he stomped back to his friends, only to swipe his shirt from off the floor and then proceeding to leave the police station.

"So... who's posting my bail?" Natsu asked with a cheery grin.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter is short! I had ended it in just a perfect way that I just knew I had to stop it right here, I'm working on Chapter Five right now! A special thanks to the people who have reviewed, favorited and followed my story! This is my first NaLu as I'm sure you guys know, and getting the positive feedback just brightens up my day every single time! I hope to hear more from you guys! And don't worry the music will be coming soon! Along with a better description of Natsu and Lucy since they're the main. Just please have patience with me!**_

 _ **Thank you all so much!**_

 _ **~*~ Sanity Challenged ~*~**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Gajeel and Natsu were still arguing when the police chief came back into the room and watched the scene a few minutes before making his presence known. He casually strolled to his desk before plopping down and waited for the arguing to stop. It was the blonde who noticed him first and she pulled on the blue haired girl's sleeve a bit to gather her attention who in turn noticed the older gentleman and hissed at the burlier boy that was in the room before finally yanking on his long black hair. The chief raised his coffee cup to his mouth to hide his slight amusement of the whole thing. He felt better now that he had his coffee.

"What the hell Shrimp?!" Gajeel turned onto the little bluenette. Levy rolled her eyes at the tall boy before casually pointing to the police chief who was still nursing his cup of coffee. Gajeel turned to the graying man and smirked a little. "So how long is Salamander going to be in jail?" He asked casually.

"God dammit Metal Head! It was a fucking accident!" Natsu wailed beside him with a growl.

"That depends on the owner of the car and whether or not they decide to press charges." The chief replied, shrugging.

"Who's the owner anyway?" Levy asked curiously, her eyes darting to Lucy who wasn't paying a bit of attention as she looked at Natsu. Lucy of course couldn't help herself, not only was he the one person she always wanted to meet because he was the lead singer of her favorite band, but also because she could immediately tell that his pink hair was all natural! She thought he was just dying his hair for his image for ' _Roar_ ', guess she was wrong. She tuned back into the conversation at hand only to notice everyone staring at her.

"Uhh..." She stuttered a bit. "What? Did something else happen?"

"The Chief here just told us the name of the person that the car is actually registered too." Levy casually spoke up, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Who?"

They turned back to the police chief who cleared his throat, a smirk on his face. "A Miss Luigi Heartfilia..." He finally stated proudly.

Lucy blinked a bit before she felt a burning sensation spread across her cheeks. She opened her mouth, a retort on the tip of her tongue but a loud voice interrupted her.

"Luigi?!" Natsu guffawed. Tanned arms clutched his stomach as loud snorts and laughs escaped him, his body shaking. "W-who in their right mind would name their kid L-Luigi?!" He continued to laugh, not even noticing the dark aura emanating from the back of the group. "They must have hated their k-kid!" Natsu laughed some more.

That was the last straw for Lucy as she whipped her head to look at the pink haired boy, a glare on her beautiful features. It was also at that moment that Natsu noticed her, like, really noticed her. The girl had long blonde hair that was flowing down her back, reaching her waist, it looked like spun gold and sunshine in his opinion. Her eyes were like melted chocolate, so warm and inviting; except for at that moment. Her eyes, as she stared him down, a scowl on her full lips were cold and harsh like a storm. Her brown eyes holding disdain and a hint of embarrassment. Natsu cocked his head to the side, loving how her little pert nose scrunched up in anger. Despite the fact that the girl looked as if she was about to unleash a bottle of rage on him, Natsu couldn't help but grin at her. She was just so cute!

"My parents didn't hate me!" Lucy snapped at the pink haired boy before turning to the police chief, an almost proud tilt to her head as she stared him down. "My name is Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia." She stepped forward from the back and met the man at his desk.

"Lucy?" The chief looked at the girl who had a frown on her face as she nodded. The chief frowned himself, "I said Luigi."

Lucy's right eye twitched as she opened up her wallet and took out her driver's license. "I assume you have the driver's license and all the information?"

"I do."

"Then compare it to this. I can assure you that the name on that paper is a typo because my name is Lucy!"

She then tossed her driver's license down on his desk and the chief picked it up, comparing first the photo to the copy he received and noticed it was the same girl. Gulping a bit he checked the ID number and noticed that it was the same too. Finally he checked the name and indeed the names were the same! The police chief flushed, his cheeks burning. He had read her name wrong! It wasn't even a typo!

"It uh... seems... I was... er... mistaken..." The police chief grumbled.

"I'm sorry? Could you speak up a bit?" Lucy questioned with a sickly sweet voice.

"I stand corrected!" The officer glared at the blonde haired girl. "I misread the name, it is indeed Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy nodded and then turned around to give Natsu a glare, watching as he gulped a little, a tiny grin still on his features. Lucy sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.

"She's not broken again is she?"

"Gajeel!"

A resounding slap alerted Lucy to her new friends and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth. Her eyes widening, she slapped a hand to her mouth when another giggle escaped her. Moments later, Lucy was full on laughing at the whole situation. A smile graced her face as she walked up to Natsu and held out her hand. She watched as he hesitantly grabbed it, a curious look on his face.

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Lucy Heartfilia, the owner of the car you stole."

"Natsu Dragneel... the person who stole your car..." The pinkette shook her hand before she swung around and looked back at the chief.

"Could you let him go please? I won't be pressing any charges." She casually strolled back to the desk and grabbed her driver's license, watching as the chief sputtered.

"No charges? Excuse me ma'am but he stole your car!"

"And you have retrieved it." Lucy shrugged. "I don't want to press any charges." She repeated.

"He still resisted arrest!" the police chief said proudly. "That's a misdemeanor!"

"Um... but from what I understand..." Levy spoke up. "You have to charge him with it and he spends a night in jail unless someone posts bail, and then they just wait for their court date."

The police chief's face grew to a bright red, and then to purple as he looked at the group of people and finally sputtering out. He sighed heavily before standing up with his keys and unlocking the cuffs on Natsu who immediately stood up with a grin, silently rubbing his slightly red wrists. They all watched as the chief went back to his desk and brought out a pad of paper and wrote some things down on it before tearing it free and handing it out to the pink haired boy who grabbed it. "Bail is 10,000 dollars! What the hell man!"

"You're famous." The chief shrugged, a slight smirk to his features. "I'm sure you can afford it."

"Why you-"

"I can pay." Lucy spoke up surprising all of the occupants.

"What?" The chief and Natsu said at the same time and then glared at each other.

"I said," Lucy cleared her voice a little. "I can pay. All of it actually."

"All of it?" The chief asked quietly.

Lucy smiled, a teasing glint in her eye. "All of it."

* * *

"Woohoo! Freedom!" Natsu screamed out as he ran away from the police station.

"Natsu! Don't forget about your court date!" Levy called out to the pink haired boy. The group saw him wave indicating that he heard before he disappeared around a corner. Levy then turned around to face Lucy, an apologetic smile on her face. "I apologize about him... he doesn't think before acting... I'll let Erza know about what happened today."

"Erza?" Lucy questioned, remembering Gray had mentioned the name earlier.

"The band's manager."

"But I thought Gray talked to her already?"

An amused snort escaped Gajeel finally. "Stripper talk to Scarlet? Doubtful, he's terrified of her. Salamander is too."

"Why?" Lucy questioned looking between the two.

"You would have to meet her to understand." Levy smiled again at Lucy, when a determined look entered her eyes. "Hey Lu-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"May I have your phone please?"

"Uhh... why?"

Levy rolled her eyes. "So I can put my contact info in of course! Mine, Gajeel's and I'll put Gray in there too! Just in case you can't reach one of us!"

Lucy smiled brightly at hearing what Levy declared. It kind of made their new friendship permanent and in Lucy's case of not having a whole lot of people that she can say were her friends, was ecstatic over the new prospect of gaining three. She handed over her phone to Levy who immediately put in her, Gajeel and Gray's numbers and quickly sent a message from Lucy's phone to Levy's so that she had Lucy's number as well. She then handed the phone back to the blonde who took it gratefully and looked at the new contacts on her phone, another smile lighting up her face.

"Thanks Levy." She gave the pixie like girl a tight hug. "Well I better get going, I have to do a bit more paperwork to get my car back!" She strolled back up the stairs before waving back at the two. "Thanks for all of your help!" She called back before going inside the precinct and heading to another office.

Within another twenty minutes, Lucy had her keys back and she was walking towards where they had towed her car after finding it. She quickened her pace once she saw it in it's place but stopped a few feet away as she saw someone sitting on the hood of her car. She couldn't really believe it and she blinked confused a few times before she actually processed what she was actually seeing.

"Yo, Luigi!"

She sighed heavily, her eye twitching a bit again. "My. Name. Is. Lucy! L-U-C-Y! Lucy!" She snapped at the pink haired boy who grinned at her cheekily and just shrugged at her little outburst.

"I was only teasin'."

Lucy sighed, and just looked up at the darkened sky where she could see a few stars peaking out. "What are you doing here?" She finally questioned.

"Well, I got home and realized I never thanked you for helping me out earlier. Seriously, if it wasn't for you, I would probably be in jail right now. So here." He thrust some papers into her hand. Lucy frowned as she grabbed them quickly and looked them over curiously only for her eyes to widen and she looked back up at the boy in question. That's when she noticed the light blush staining his tanned cheeks and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her mouth. Natsu flushed in embarrassment and tried to hide his face in the scarf around his neck. "Look, ya don't have to use 'em if ya don't wanna..." he trailed off.

"You're so weird!" Lucy laughed out.

"Wha?" Natsu sputtered. "If anyone is weird here it's you, ya weirdo!"

Lucy stopped laughing to sputter herself at Natsu's declaration. "I'm not weird!"

"Yeah ya are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Lucy scoffed, "Whatever! Even if I'm considered weird, you are way more weird than I am!"

Natsu mock gasped. "I am not!"

"Are too!"

"I am not!"

The two bickered back and forth until both of them were red faced and out of breath from yelling at each other. Staring at one another, each panting a little, Natsu cracked a grin first before he snickered, soon Lucy followed after and they were both found laughing. A rather loud 'meow' interrupted their laughter and Lucy looked down as a blue cat started wrapping itself around Natsu's ankles.

"Awww, how cute! I wonder if he's lost..." She murmured to herself but she heard Natsu snort as he picked up the cat.

"He's not lost, but he's not at home either." He grumbled as the blue feline started purring and wrapped itself around Natsu's neck. "Oi! I told ya not to do that anymore!"

"You know who he belongs to?" Lucy questioned, taking a step closer to the pinkette. The cat then looked up and looked directly at her only to meow cutely in her face and in that instant Lucy was petting the feline. That put her in direct contact with the lead singer of her favorite band who stiffened a bit as he caught a whiff of mint and lemon. It was such a unique and new smell for him, a breath of fresh air, and he found himself leaning closer to the female in front of him and inhaling her scent deeply. Lucy's voice penetrated his slightly foggy mind.

"Huh?"

"I asked what you were doing... Were you smelling me?"

Natsu flushed but luckily she couldn't see since it was so dark and he was close to her so instead he just shrugged. Lucy, decided not to look too deeply into his motions and just continued to pet the cat a little bit more when the cat suddenly jumped from Natsu to her and cuddled himself into her generous bosom. She laughed and cuddled with the cat.

"You are so cute! I wonder if Plue would like you." She held the feline closer to her face. "Do you get along well with dogs?"

"H-hey!" Natsu stuttered a bit with jealousy. "Gimme back Happy!"

"Happy?" Lucy questioned. "You mean the cat?"

"Yeah, my cat."

"Ohhhh." Lucy grinned and looked back at the cat with newfound interest. "So you're Happy, the cat that Levy told me to be wary about... you seem harmless to me."

Natsu frowned hearing that, usually Happy didn't like anyone and would hiss or scratch anyone besides himself, and yet he had gone straight up to Lucy. It was odd and he would have guessed that Happy was just having an off day except for the fact that the feline was purring up a storm and looked like he couldn't get enough of his cuddles with the blonde. Happy was a great judge of character, in his opinion and it just made Natsu grin as he came to a decision involving the blonde.

"I've decided!" He called out, startling both his cat and the blonde.

"Decided what?" Lucy asked almost scared to know what the answer was going to be.

"We're gonna be best friends!"

"Friends?"

* * *

Lucy sighed heavily as she finally opened her apartment door and trudged through. It had taken her extra long to get home. After Natsu's sudden declaration of them being best friends, he had almost immediately begged for a ride so he didn't have to walk. She had immediately told him no and in turn Natsu had started whining about how she wasn't being a very good best friend which of course made her aggravated because she barely knew him and he had caused quite a lot of trouble that day. Lucy yawned widely as she walked into the kitchen to grab an apple to eat for her dinner. She was starving but after the day's events, she was more exhausted than anything. Especially after she saw that Natsu had started following her after she drove off. She ended up going down a couple of alleyways and different streets to avoid him knowing where she lived. If she didn't know any better, she would have said that he was being a stalker which was odd because it would usually be vice versa. He was a famous person after all, and knowing that he was chasing after a normal girl like her made it a little more on the weird side.

Finishing off her apple she threw the core away in the trash before walking into the living room only to see Plue sleeping comfortably on her couch. She frowned because he knew that he wasn't allowed on the furniture unless invited, but shrugged it off as she moved closer to her bedroom. She couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face as she saw her plush bed with all of it's white furnishings. No offense to Levy, her home was wonderful, but for Lucy she was most comfortable in her little apartment. It was like her little sanctuary away from all of her worries, especially when she wrote her stories, then she was worlds away from everything grounding her.

Too tired to take a shower, Lucy immediately changed into her pink pajamas and was about to hop into her bed when she saw something sticking out of the back pocket of her jeans that she had been wearing moments before. Quickly remembering what it was, she retrieved the papers from her jeans and another smile graced her beautiful features. Natsu may have been weird, especially when she caught him sniffing her, but he was also extremely thoughtful as she looked at her apology from him. It was a bunch of tickets, and a special VIP lanyard. He had basically given her an all access pass to any and all of the concerts where _'Roar'_ was preforming around Magnolia. The first one was scheduled later that week, and a shiver of excitement coursed throughout her body as she thought of seeing the pinkette again.

He annoyed the hell out of her, he was loud and boisterous, as well as careless, but she knew that she wanted to see him, even after everything that he had put her through. She didn't know why but she looked forward to what else he had in store for her. Lucy shook her head at her thoughts and calmly placed her present on her desk in the corner of her room, and then proceeded to get in her queen sized bed, groaning as her tired and sore body relaxed upon contact. She glanced at the tickets one last time before shutting off her bedside light and going to bed, a smile on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It had been a week since she had seen any sign of her new friends. Her and Levy exchanged text messages every day which made Lucy look forward to her days at work, no matter how difficult the day had been, Levy had a way of cheering her up with just a few words. She had received a couple from Gray, asking how she was, and venting about Flame Brain, which she could only assume was Natsu, and had even received a message from Gajeel, asking if she was coming to their concert that was coming up. Lucy frowned thinking about that conversation, the concert was on a Friday, but Lucy had been called into work that day and hadn't managed to go, and it was so busy that she didn't even get to talk to Levy that much. She had almost lost her job that day because she wouldn't stop checking her phone every chance she got and her boss didn't particularly like that she was so distracted. Luckily she had only managed to get a write up, and for the rest of that evening, she didn't dare check her phone in fear of losing her job.

It was now Monday and she couldn't wait till she got off at five that evening. She and Levy had made plans to hang out afterwards, the first time in what felt like forever, and she was especially excited because she needed a good friend with the way things at work had been. Her boss seemed to have a major 'Hate-On' towards her and it was stressing her out with all of the ridiculous things that her boss was making her do. Lucy sighed heavily as she grabbed a plate from the window of the diner where she worked, a burger resting on it, before taking it over to table seven. Plastering a fake smile on her face, hoping she didn't look as annoyed as she felt, she placed the plate down for her customer and asked if there was anything else she could do for them. She helped the customer as much as she could when she heard the tinkling of the bell above the door.

"I'll be right with you!" She called out to the patrons before focusing back on her current customer and refilling their water with ease. Grabbing her notepad, she headed over to the other table that was across the little diner. Usually there were two or three other girls, but they had called out, and so she was left picking up all of the other slack. Thankfully she only had another hour to go before she was off for the rest of the night and the next day. Coming up beside the table, she grabbed her favorite pink pen, placing tip to paper, she looked up and opened her mouth only for it to stay open as she finally got a look at who her next customers were.

"Gray? Gajeel?" She asked dumbly, not quite processing what she was seeing.

"Hey." Gray nodded and gave her a smile while Gajeel just grunted a bit in acknowledgment.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lucy beamed, she was beyond happy to know that the two were there but noticed that they weren't alone. There were two girls with them, along with another boy with blue hair.

"We were having a band meeting and decided to get some lunch." Gray shrugged.

"Out of everywhere you could have gone to Magnolia, you came to this little diner?" Lucy teased the boy and giggled as she saw the boy flush a bit.

"It was Gajeel's idea!" He retorted back.

"Gajeel?" She focused her attention on the pierced boy, an eyebrow raised.

Gajeel shrugged carelessly. "Shrimp mentioned that ya worked here, thought we could check it out."

Lucy grinned, a sly look to her features. "So it has nothing to do with the fact that Levy is supposed to meet me here in an hour when I get off?"

A snort escaped Gajeel and he looked away from the smiling blonde. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." Lucy giggled again. "So who are your friends?" She asked Gray, knowing that Gajeel wasn't going to talk to her anytime soon.

"Oh sorry!" Gray apologized. "This is Wendy Marvell, she's our keyboardist, Jellal Fernandez, he usually plays the bass and this is our manager, Erza Scarlet." Gray introduced.

"It's so nice to meet you!" Wendy managed to say with a beaming smile on her young face.

"Quite, we've heard a lot about you from Levy." Jellal nodded to her, a small smile on his face.

"I heard that Natsu has given you quite a few problems." Erza extended a hand out to Lucy who eagerly grabbed it, a smile on her face.

"Oh it was nothing! It was an accident, and it's not like I didn't get my car back in the end." Lucy shrugged. "I'm not worried about it, so please don't give it another thought!"

Erza gave her a look that made Lucy shrink back a little, and the others around the table seemed to wait with bated breath, when Erza chuckled lightly. "You're right of course, no harm, no foul." Lucy watched as the others let go of the breath that they were holding and started conversing with each other and she couldn't help but shake her head in amusement.

"Well, in any case, what can I get you guys?" She asked, pulling her notepad and pen closer to her chest so that she can write down the orders. Seeing as they all seemed focused on the menu's by that time, she told them she would be right back to take care of a few other tables. After about ten minutes went by, she went back over to the table and saw that another person had joined them. "Oh hi!" Lucy grinned.

"Hi Lu-chan!" Levy giggled. "I got done early and thought that I would just go ahead and come by."

"I hope you don't mind waiting." She commented before turning to everyone else and quickly writing down their orders. "Alright! I'll be right back." She turned to head back to the counter quickly. Lucy put in their order before grabbing their drinks and hurried over. She passed them out with a smile before rushing off again to take care of a couple of other tables, grabbing the dirty dishes and quickly taking them into the back to be scrubbed. Unbeknownst to her, her new friends kept a close eye on her.

"Is she the only one working?" Jellal commented first, watching as the blonde rushed around the rather packed diner.

"I don't see anyone else helping her..." Wendy worried her bottom lip.

"She told me earlier that the other two girls that are supposed to work today had to call out." Levy explained a little. "I guess they couldn't find replacements." The pixie like girl commented, a frown on her petite features.

"She shouldn't be doing everything by herself..." Gray commented as well, watching as the blonde finally disappeared into the back.

The group waited for Lucy to show herself, but after fifteen minutes had passed with no sign of her, they turned back to each other. Another ten passed before Lucy finally made an appearance with their food, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Here you guys go!" She said with a bright smile, and placed their food in front of them in the right places. "I hope you guys like it!"

"Why is your face all red?" Erza questioned thoughtfully as she stabbed her piece of strawberry cake with her fork.

"O-oh, I was uh... I was doing the dishes, and it's kind of hot back there being so close to the grill." Lucy twisted her fingers a bit. "In any case, I hope you guys like the food!" She immediately rushed off to the other tables.

"She's overdoing it." Gajeel grunted as he took a bite of his burger.

"Well what are we supposed to do? It's her job." Gray commented.

"But no one should be working the way she is, it's not good for her health or her body, eventually something is going to happen." Wendy pointed out with a frown on her face, Jellal nodding silently beside her. Right at that moment a loud clatter was heard and they all looked up from their food to see Lucy sprawled out on the floor with food all over her.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" Lucy rushed out as she hastily stood up, trying not to slip in some ketchup that had also landed on the floor.

"Oh no, it's my fault, no need for you to apologize! I should be the one saying sorry!" The customer smiled at Lucy who smiled back, though she was embarrassed if her pink cheeks said anything.

"Let me go put in your order again and then clean this up!" They watched as Lucy made her way back to the back of the diner when the door suddenly flew open, narrowly missing Lucy's face.

"HEARTFILIA!"

Lucy winced on instinct. "Mr. Everlue! I'm so-"

"Save it! This is the fifth time today that you have made a mistake!" An older man revealed himself, a permanent sneer on his face and stomped over to Lucy and jabbing a fat finger in her face. "I warned you! I warned you that if it would happen again, I would take it out of your tips!"

"Wait-"

"No more excuses Heartfilia!" Everlue lunged forward and grabbed Lucy's left arm tightly in his beefy one.

Lucy winced at the tight grip knowing that she would have bruises in the morning with how hard he was squeezing her arm. Tears threatened but she pushed them back and stood her ground against her boss. "No! It was an accident and you can't do that! Let me go! You're hurting me!"

"Listen here you-"

Everlue was cut off as a fist appeared out of no where and found a home in his face. Taking advantage of the situation, Lucy ripped her arm away from her boss' slackened grip, just as someone wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Expecting her savior to be Gajeel or Gray, maybe even Jellal, when Lucy glanced up all she saw was pink.

"Natsu?"

"Hi Luigi!" Natsu looked down at the blonde female that he had pulled into his side, a bright grin on his face.

Lucy's jaw dropped for a few seconds before her cheeks turned red, her brows dropping down in anger. "It's Lucy!"

Natsu shrugged. He knew what her name was, but when he got reactions like hers, he couldn't help but to tease her.

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "What are you doing here? What did you do to my boss?!" She exclaimed loudly, squirming out from his side to face him.

"I just saved you, that's what!" Natsu announced boldly to the entire diner.

"That's my boss, Natsu!"

"So?"

"You can't be serious! I can get fired thanks to you!"

"So you would rather lose all of your hard earned money?!"

"That's not the point!"

The two bickered back and forth, not even caring where they were at that time. The other members of _'Roar'_ plus Erza just watched the two fight for a few moments when another voice entered onto the scene.

"You're fired!" Everlue proclaimed as he sat up, his face extremely swollen from where Natsu had punched him. "And all of you are banned from coming in here ever again!"

Lucy gaped at that short, fat man. "B-b-but-"

"FIRED! NOW GET OUT OF MY DINER!"

Within moments all of them had shuffled out, Levy dragging Lucy out by her hand, gently. "Lu-chan?"

Lucy turned around, a seething glare on her face as she singled out Natsu, her face red from fury and embarrassment. Her eyes glassy from tears that she was holding back. "How could you do that?! I just lost my job because of you!"

"What kind of job does that to it's employees?! I did you a favor!" Natsu hollered back.

"A favor? Is that what you call it?!"

Natsu winced at the screech that emanated from the blonde female in front of him and rolled his eyes as he stuck his pinky in his ear, as if to clean it out. "Wow... someone needs a happy meal."

Everyone stopped to look at Natsu after he said that and then looked at Lucy who finally had tears rolling down her cheeks. Gray held his head in his hand as Natsu finally realized what he said. "Uh... w-wait!"

"You're such a jerk!" Lucy screamed at Natsu before swinging around and running back home to her apartment.

The other members looked at Natsu who had his outstretched as if to stop the blonde from leaving, a look of forlorn on his face.

"Way to go ya Pyro!" Gray immediately got into Natsu's face.

"Back off, Ice Cube!" Natsu retaliated and pushed Gray away from him, a sneer on his face before it immediately turned into a wide eyed look. "Dammit! She was crying! What do I do?!" He began tugging at his rose colored locks in frustration.

"Apologizing would be the first step I do believe." Erza replied, coming closer to the pinkette who flinched a bit and took a cautionary step backwards.

"Why should I be apologizing? I helped her!" Natsu growled out, pretending to be brave.

"And we commend you for that." Jellal stated calmly. "But punching her boss like that? Really Natsu?"

"It was reaction!" Natsu defended himself, crossing his arms, a huff escaping his lips.

"Bunny Girl doesn't know you, moron." Gajeel replied with a roll of his ruby red eyes. "All she knows is that you punched her boss and she got fired because of it."

Levy and Wendy looked at each other a little worriedly. "How about Wendy and I go to Lucy's house and see if we can do anything to make it up to her?" Levy suggested. "I might be able to get her a new job."

"No, Natsu should be the one to do it." Erza ordered, making the others shrink back a little in fear, from the look in her eye. "Natsu," she began.

"Yes ma'am?" The pinkette squeaked out.

"Go to Lucy's house and do whatever you have to to make things right. Don't come back unless you've succeeded."

Natsu deflated like a balloon and crossed his arms, a pout on his face. "Yes ma'am..."

* * *

As soon as Lucy got back home she kicked off her shoes and stripped off her clothes as she made her way to her bathroom. She plugged up her tub and started the bath water, adding some bubble bath into the mix. After what had happened, she knew she just needed to relax and calm down. She knew that after everything that Natsu was right and she had blown everything out of proportions. She frowned as she stepped into her bath and sank down into the relaxing waters. ' _Maybe I had gone a bit overboard...'_ She worried her bottom lip in thought. Pushing the thoughts away, she reached over to grab her phone and started playing Pandora. She clicked the New Hits tab and then sank deeper into the water, enjoying the relaxation time that she was allowed. She would worry about finding a new job later.

 ** _There was a time when I alone  
Nowhere to go and no place to call home  
My only friend was the man in the moon  
And even sometimes he would go away, too_**

 ** _Then one night, as I closed my eyes,  
I saw a shadow, flying high  
He came to me with the sweetest smile  
Told me he to talk for awhile  
He said, "Peter Pan. That's what they call me.  
I promise that you'll never be lonely."  
And ever since that day..._**

 ** _I am a lost boy from Neverland  
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan  
And when we're bored we play in the woods  
Always on the run from Captain Hook  
"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me,  
"Away from all of reality."  
_**

 ** _Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free_**

 ** _Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free_**

The blonde sighed heavily as she heard the song, so many emotions filling her up. She missed her mother more than anything at that very moment. She did indeed, feel like a lost boy and was waiting for her savior, a Peter Pan of her own.

 _ **He sprinkled me in pixie dust and told me to believe  
**_ _ **Believe in him and believe in me  
**_ _ **Together we will fly away in a cloud of green  
**_ _ **To your beautiful destiny  
**_ _ **As we soared above the town that never loved me  
**_ _ **I realized I finally had a family  
**_ _ **Soon enough we reached Neverland  
**_ _ **Peacefully my feet hit the sand  
**_ ** _And ever since that day..._**

 ** _I am a lot boy from Neverland  
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan  
And when we're bored we play in the woods  
Always on the run from Captain Hook  
"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me,  
"Away from all of reality."_**

 ** _Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free_**

 ** _Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free_**

A few tears leaked out of Lucy's eyes and trailed down her pale cheeks before she scrubbed them away and started washing her body. No amount of crying would get anything done, she decided and a determined look descended onto her face in replacement of the frown. Nodding to herself, she finished washing herself as she listened to the rest of the song that she had then dubbed as her new favorite.

 _ **Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Wendy Darling,  
Even Captain Hook.  
You are my perfect story book  
Neverland, I love you so,  
You are now my home sweet home  
Forever a lost boy at last**_

 _ **Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Wendy Darling,  
Even Captain Hook.  
You are my perfect story book  
Neverland, I love you so,  
You are now my home sweet home  
Forever a lost boy at last**_

 _ **And forever I will say...**_

 _ **I am a lost boy from Neverland  
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan  
And when we're bored we play in the woods  
Always on the run from Captain Hook  
"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me  
"Away from all reality."**_

 _ **Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free**_

 _ **Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free**_

Lucy rinsed off all of the soap and bubbles from her body, and just laid back in the tub. She knew that she had just gotten into the tub, and only listened to a few songs, but she was tired from all of the work that she had done and add to that the fight she had with the pink haired singer, and then of course running all the way home. Lucy sighed heavily. She needed a vacation. She could easily get one if she just called up her estranged father, but thinking deeper on the subject she didn't want to deal with her father either. Knowing him, he would only give her the needed money if there was a catch along with it, like a marriage or for her to move back home and the blonde wasn't willing to sacrifice her freedom for that. She'll just have to look for another job, somewhere better than at Everlue's shoddy diner.

Emptying the tub, Lucy stood up and wrapped a towel around her shapely body and moved to the door where Plue was waiting for her and cracked a smile.

"I'm guessing you're hungry?" A loud bark answered her and she giggled, while holding a finger to her lips. "Shh, we don't want the landlady getting onto us about being loud again." She shook her head at the white Pyrenees. "Let me go get some clothes on, and I'll go feed you, afterwards let's go to the park, it's been a while." She commented as she made her way to her room. She slipped on a pair of blue jean shorts and a regular purple cami before exiting and heading straight to the kitchen where she grabbed Plue's food and water bowls and filled them up. She laid them on the floor and leaned against the counter, a soft smile playing on her lips as she watched her puppy devour it.

After a few more moments, Lucy slipped on her favorite tennis shoes and grabbed Plue's leash, before they made their way to the front door. Flinging it open, her soft smile turned into a scowl as she saw someone standing right outside her door.

"What do you want?"

* * *

 _ **A/N: Sorry about the lateness of this chapter, my boyfriend's grandfather died and we have had a lot to deal with the last couple of days... in any case, I'm thinking about putting this story up on my tumblr, but I wanted to know your opinion about it! Yay or nay?**_

 _ **In any case, the song used is called "Lost Boys" by Ruth B, I've been obsessed with it recently and thought it was a perfect song to put in for this story, so I couldn't resist lol. I hope you guys liked the chapter, lemme know what you thought by leaving a review or fav and follow! It brightens up my days when I get one!**_

 _ **Thanks so much for reading and I hope to hear from you guys soon!**_

 _ **~*~ Sanity Challenged ~*~**_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

 _'Smoke... why do I smell smoke...?'_

Lucy slowly opened her eyes, and instantly regretted it when she felt a searing pain in her head. She groaned out, the brightness of the room blinding her, before she slowly blinked to get used to the light shining in from the nearby window. Carefully, she sat up and looked around her living room. Everything seemed to be in order, so why did she wake up on the couch in her apartment with her head hammering like she had a run in with a sledgehammer? She pressed her fingers to her temple to try and relieve some of the pressure and when that didn't seem to help any, she groaned again before standing up and making her way to her bathroom in search of some medication. Grasping the bottle in her hands she tentatively took out what she needed before popping them in her mouth and swallowing. Normally she would just take a nap or eat something when she felt the beginnings of a migraine, but with the way her head was throbbing, she knew medication was needed. Hoping that they kicked in sooner rather than later, she left the bathroom and was about to bypass her kitchen and back into the living room when something pink captured her attention.

Backtracking, Lucy glanced into her kitchen, her eyes widening at what she found before a frown graced her beautiful features.

"Yo!"

"What the hell are you doing in my kitchen?!"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Well you see about that..."

* * *

 _Natsu stood in front of the door._

 _It was a rather nice door._

 _Natsu sighed and ruffled his hair out of habit. He was stalling... and he knew it._ _He had managed to convince Levy to reveal where the blonde lived and had immediately rushed over. He double checked the numbers on the door to make sure he was at the right place. His shoulders slumped as he noticed that they matched what the bluenette had told him. He wasn't ready for this... he barely even knew the girl! He crossed his arms over his chest, a pout on his face. He didn't see why he had to apologize. He did her a favor! Natsu grimaced, 'Alright... I could have gone a tiny bit overboard...', he thought. Shaking his head, and steeling his resolve he raised his knuckles to knock on the door. He needed to get this settled so that he could get back to the band and rehearse, especially with the concert coming up in a few short days. It was the last concert before the whole group started college, minus Wendy, she was still in high school after all._

 _Just as his knuckles were about to brush against the door, it suddenly swung open and before his eyes, the blonde emerged. Grimacing as her relaxed posture abruptly stiffened and an almost cool look entered her chocolate brown eyes._

 _"What do you want?"_

 _Natsu grimaced, this wasn't going to be very easy. "I uh..." he stammered a bit, "I just wanted to apolog-" Natsu was cut off as an ear piercing scream ripped down the hallway, and he swung around. Standing at the other end of the corridor was a teenage girl, and she had her mouth hanging wide open. On her shirt, was a familiar logo, and Natsu paled a bit as he immediately recognized it._

 _"NATSU! Oh my god I have to tell all of my friends that you're-" The girl began but stopped when she looked up from her phone and realized that the hall was completely empty. "Natsu?" She walked down the hall to where she thought she saw him. "Am I seeing things?" She murmured to herself before shrugging and walking towards the elevator._

 _Natsu released a relieved sigh as he heard the ding of the elevator and looked through the peephole of Lucy's apartment door to make sure that the coast was clear. Satisfied that his fan had at least left the floor, Natsu turned around and rubbed the back of his head, this time in embarrassment, his eyes looking at the ceiling in exasperation. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened at the diner, and I'm sorry about barging in. I can't let my fans see me here, otherwise there's going to be a lot of problems." He tried to explain to Lucy but was met with silence. "Lui-uh I mean Lucy?" Natsu looked around a bit before his eyes finally landed on the blonde. "Uh... oops..."_

* * *

"I guess when I pushed into your place, ya fell and hit your head or somethin'." Natsu shrugged a little sheepish about the whole thing. "So I picked ya up and laid ya down on your couch, I called one of your friends too so that they can look after you when I leave."

Lucy opened her mouth to ask why he was there to begin with but paused as something he said caught her attention. "Wait... which friend?"

"Just someone named 'Boozer' in your phone."

The blonde immediately groaned as soon as the name left Natsu's mouth. "Out of everyone in my contacts, why did you choose her?"

"How could I resist? Who names their friends something like that?" The pinkette snickered. "It was practically begging for me to pick it, and I mean, why deny fate?" He gave her a cocky grin and she felt her lips twitch in amusement. He just looked so free and careless. Ignoring the feeling, Lucy scoffed and sat down at her kitchen table.

"When is she going to be here?"

"I think in an hour or so? She didn't actually say..."

"Figures..." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Me? Natsu blinked at her confused making the blonde give him a rather dry look.

"Yes, you, why are you here?"

The pinkette said nothing as he took that moment to ponder why he had come over to begin with. With all of the commotion from earlier concerning his near run in with the fan, he had completely forgotten about why he was at Lucy's place! Maybe he should go to the doctor like his friends have always suggested... his friends... a threat... oh!"

"Erza!" Natsu blurted out in a panic, as the memory flooded into his mind.

"Erza?" Lucy gave him a look.

"Yea, Erza, she told me to apologize to you again and try and make things up to you! Levy gave me your address so here I am!" The singer grinned, proud of himself for remembering.

Lucy opened her mouth, a retort on the tip of her tongue, but stopped as soon as she heard her front door open and then slam shut. She gave Natsu an incredulous look which made him jerk back a bit in fear as he realized what that look meant. He had screwed up... again. His Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped; he had forgotten to lock her front door. The sudden smell of alcohol made Natsu gag a little as it reached his sensitive nose. He watched as Lucy let out a slightly aggravated sigh before she looked at the doorway as a busty brunette stumbled through. She looked at the two blearily before she focused on the blonde. A smirk creeped across the face of the brunette before she lunged for the blonde.

"Boobs!"

"Cana!" Lucy blushed to the roots of her hair, as she felt her breasts getting fondled. "Stop it! How many times have I told you not to do that! Especially in front of other people!" She pushed the girl away from her. Though her face was on fire, she couldn't help the exasperated smile as she watched her friend drape herself on her kitchen table. "I'm guessing you're drunk again..."

Cana gave her a happy smile. "Let's be honest here... am I ever not drunk?"

"Given." Lucy simply said with another smile on her face.

"So Lu-Lu..." Cana started, ignoring when Lucy frowned and her eye twitched a bit. "Who's this handsome guy?" The brunette slid her chair closer to Natsu who visibly gulped again but offered her a smile.

"Um... my name's Natsu Dragneel." He introduced himself to the distillery.

"Natsu, eh?" Cana grinned. "What do you say to the two of us going out and getting... acquainted?"

"Uh..." Natsu looked to Lucy for help only to see her smirking at his discomfort. "Well... that is..." He was at a complete lost as to what to do or say but thankfully he was saved when his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he grinned. "I have to take this!" He scrambled up from the table as he placed his phone to his ear. "Dragneel." He answered and soon left the room.

"Way to go Cana," Lucy said sarcastically. "Scared off another one."

The brunette waved her hand dismissively. "They'd never be able to handle me anyway." She took out a flask from her cleavage and unscrewed the top, before taking a quick swig. "Phew! That's the right stuff!"

"You should really learn to slow down." Lucy said as she rolled her eyes.

"Where's the fun in that?" Cana tossed her a wink. "So... Natsu Dragneel huh? Isn't he famous or something?"

"Or something... he got me fired today..."

"How did that come about? I've been begging you to leave that job since you got hired and within an afternoon, he got you fired? I need to take notes!"

"This isn't funny Cana! What am I going to do?" Moaned Lucy.

"Well duh, find another one!" Cana grinned. "I know this great bar-"

"I'm not working at a bar Cana!"

"What about a bar?" A deeper voice questioned as Natsu came back into the room, his phone no where to be seen.

"I was just telling Lu-Lu here that she should work at this bar that I know of. It's close by and the people there are really nice! I spend half of my time there." Cana explained a little as she took out her flask again.

"Half of your time? You're always there, I'm honestly surprised that you haven't been kicked out yet with how much you drink..." Lucy commented.

Cana mocked gasped before she grinned. "You're right, but they can't get rid of me! I'm a well respected paying customer!"

Lucy snorted. "Paying?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Yes mother; paying. I was there so much that they offered me a job." She shrugged.

"Cana Alberona!" Lucy gasped.

"What?"

Lucy stared at her friend for a few minutes making Cana feel a little uncomfortable if her crossing and uncrossing her legs were anything to go by. After about 5 minutes Cana finally opened her mouth to say something but was cut off as Lucy launched herself at the brunette and gave her a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

Natsu watched as the two girls bantered back and forth before clearing his throat to grab their attentions. "So I have to leave, but uh... do you guys wanna go to the beach on Monday? It's kind of a tradition with the band that we all go to the beach one week before school as a last hoorah!" Natsu grinned at both the girls.

Immediately Cana sat up just a little bit straighter and Lucy sat back down in her chair. "Will there be booze?" The brunette asked immediately.

"Well yea, we'll also be performing a little bit, but anyway, everything is completely paid for! I can't wait for Mira's food!" Natsu hummed as he imagined all of the dishes he'd be able to taste in two more days. He snapped out of it quickly enough however and gave them a wide smile, his canine's flashing in the light.

"Mira? As in Mirajane from Fairy Tail? Mirajane Strauss?" Cana blurted out and watched as Lucy gave her a confused look out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah! You know Mira?" The pinkette questioned.

"I work for her!"

"You work at Fairy Tail? Sweet! Isn't it amazin'?"

"Wait, hold up." Lucy interrupted.

"What's there to hold up on? I'm in! We'll be there, handsome." Cana tossed him a wink before getting her flask again.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Lucy raised an eyebrow and gave her friend a rather dry look.

"Oh come on Lu-Lu! You never go out anymore! When was the last time that you actually went to the beach? It's been forever!"

"I've been busy..."

"Exactly! Now you're not busy anymore! So let's go!"

Lucy looked at her friend frustrated. This wasn't an easy decision for her. She barely knew the singer and above all he had gotten her fired! She bit her bottom lip nervously as she tried to mull over her decision. Cana was right too, Everlue had been a creep and she did let him abuse her and what not while she was at the diner, the balding man had always had a ridiculous reason to blame her for everything bad that had happened to the place. She would work double sometimes triple shifts, and get very little pay and then her tips would go missing every once in a while or lessen considerably. Even with how much she actually worked, she was barely getting by. Brown orbs locked with onyx and she shook her head, a teasing smile on her lips before she turned to look at Cana. "I guess someone has to make sure that you don't overdo it."

"Awesome! So I'll see you guys on Monday!" Natsu grinned as he slipped a black beanie onto his head to cover his signature pink hair.

"Where did that come from?" Lucy questioned. She didn't remember seeing it earlier when he had first shown up. Actually it looked a little familiar... she suddenly gasped as Natsu gave her a startled look, his face paling.

"Gotta go! Bye!" The pinkette backpedaled out of the room and disappeared before Lucy could open her mouth. She let out a breath of air instead as the two females heard the door slam shut.

"What was that all about?" Cana asked with a lascivious grin on her face, her cheeks tinted pink from the liquor she had consumed.

"That damned idiot stole my beanie!"

* * *

 _ **A/N: Sorry about the lateness of this chapter and I know it's slow going. I don't particularly like this chapter, including the way I ended it but I liked it enough to post it. There were just a bunch of issues as to how to come about this and I really struggled. If you can tell, it's actually extremely short to my standards but I needed it to end right there. It'll pick up again soon, I promise.**_

 _ **There's a note that I would like to address though, I know a lot of people don't read the lyrics that are in a story, myself included, but I will also not be removing them or making them shorter in my story. In my opinion it's crucial to know how they feel, and that's where the lyrics come in. The lyrics are in bold and italicized for a reason! It's to let people know that they don't have to read them if they don't want too! But in any case the lyrics are going to stay, because I feel like it plays a role in my story.**_

 ** _Now then, a couple of thanks to the people who have followed, favorited and reviewed my story! I am so so so so grateful to you all! I really wasn't sure about posting anything but you all inspired me to keep going! I didn't expect it to get so many follows and favorites! It really helps with my self esteem seeing as I hadn't written anything in so long! I'm really rusty in my opinion and to know that you guys don't care and truly like my story really makes me happy!_**

 ** _A special shout out to Kitanoe-Jyoni! Thank you so much for your help with this chapter! It has really made me think outside the box! And I never got to say this but another special shout out to daniagogo! You helped me a lot with that one review!_**

 ** _I hope there are lots more follows, favorites and reviews to come!_**

 ** _~*~ Sanity Challenged ~*~_**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Monday morning found Lucy snuggled up in bed. She had stayed up late the night before, putting in as many job applications online as she could. It ended up being 3 in the morning before she had finally closed her laptop and crawled into bed, exhausted. She was having a rather nice dream when the blaring of "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten blasted nearby and she jerked awake. Groaning, Lucy reached over and turned off her alarm on her phone before rolling over and closing her eyes again to try and get some more sleep. She was just on the brink of sleep again when there was a sudden knock on the door jarring her enough to groan and cover her head with her pillow. The knocking persisted for a few minutes and right when Lucy was about to finally get up and snap at the intruder the knocking stopped. The blonde sighed in contentment and her body relaxed, she was exhausted from the night before and she just wasn't quite ready to get up and face the day.

It took Lucy a little bit longer to fall back to sleep the third time since all of the interruptions had kept her awake just a little bit longer each time. She closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath, her body relaxing as she did so when a noise caught her attention. It was an almost inaudible scraping sound coming from her kitchen. Fully awake by this point, Lucy lunged forward into a sitting position, her eyes blinking rapidly to adjust to the brightness of the room from the morning sunlight streaming in through her windows. Once her eyes had finally adjusted, she heard a distinct thud as if a person had just landed and she immediately scanned her room looking for some kind of weapon. Spying her glass vase filled with her favorite yellow-red roses, that looked like fire bursts, she immediately stumbled out of bed to grab it from across her room and held it close to her chest, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Slowly she crept from her room and headed towards the kitchen where she heard someone curse and her heart jumped in her throat. She had a feeling that someone was breaking into her home but actually hearing someone made it all the more real.

Lucy suddenly jumped into the kitchen, the vase raised above her head in one hand. Without really processing what happened, Lucy threw the vase at the intruder, a muffled 'hey!' was heard, but with the blood pounding in her ears, she didn't recognize the voice or even acknowledge the intruder saying anything at all. As soon as the vase left her hand, Lucy's self defense classes kicked in. She immediately swung her arm back close to her body before twisting her body, and jutting out her elbow. Extending her arm, she swung her elbow into her intruders face, hearing them groan loudly. Lucy then ducked and swung her leg out to kick her opponents legs from underneath them. Jumping up as the other person fell down on their back, she jumped on top of them and then swung her arm back again to punch them when she finally processed something familiar.

"Natsu?"

The pinkette looked at Lucy, his ebony eyes wide in surprise and slightly fearful. He gulped a bit as his eyes flickered to her fist that was still raised above him, waiting for the impact.

"You're not going to hit me again, are you?" Natsu sputtered.

It was then that Lucy noticed the blood. "Oh my god!" She scrambled up off of the singer and ran to the kitchen sink. Turning the faucet on to warm up a bit, she opened one of the drawers nearby and took out a dish towel. Turning back to the running water, she dipped the towel in and then rung it out. By this time, Natsu had sat up and winced as his whole jaw ached with that blow from her elbow. He grunted as he gingerly touched his jaw when something slapped his hand away and instead felt the damp roughness of the towel on his lip.

Lucy saw him wince in pain and felt a little guilty for being the cause of his pain. Then she frowned as she remembered exactly _why_ she had been the cause of his pain. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She managed to hiss out through clenched teeth.

"Me? I could say the same about you!" Natsu retorted and then winced again. "Ow! That hurts damn it!"

"Who the hell breaks into someone else's apartment?!"

"Oi! I tried knockin' on the damn door first for like ten minutes but you never got out of bed and I got worried!"

Lucy snapped her eyes up at that last word and stared at the pinkette incredulously. "Worried?"

"So o'course I broke in to make sure you were alright!" Natsu continued, not realizing she had spoken at all, a slight pink tint to his tan cheeks.

Lucy finished cleaning the split lip she had given the boy and then stood up. She walked over to her freezer and got out some ice and placed it in a ziplock bag before wrapping it in another dish towel and trudged back over to Natsu who had managed to get up off the floor and was standing aimlessly next to her kitchen table. She offered the ice silently and waited for him to take it from her, which he did a moment later.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" He asked curiously a few moments later once some of the swelling from his cheek lessened.

"I took some kickboxing classes a few years ago." Lucy replied as she yawned, her adrenaline rush gone, her body even more exhausted than before.

"Kickboxing?" Natsu murmured surprised before nodding. "That would make sense." He suddenly smiled. "So are ya ready?"

"Ready? For what?"

"The beach! Come on, I told you I was gonna be here to pick ya up!"

Lucy suddenly grinned and her eyes lit up as she recalled why she had set her alarm to begin with. "Oh right!" She started racing to her bedroom and then walked to the bathroom. Right before she closed the door she called out to him. "Just turn on the TV or something, please don't touch anything!" She heard something drop and shatter before sighing heavily and deciding to just ignore whatever he had broken until after she was clean. She turned on the water to let it warm up as she stripped out of her pajamas and stood in front of her bathroom mirror grimacing at what she saw. Dark circles marred her skin, her hair a rats nest, and not to mention that it looked like she was about to keel over with how pale she was. Lucy ran a hand down her face before getting into the shower to wash away the grime from the day before.

Normally, she would just soak in the tub for an hour or so, let her body relax and sink into the bubbles. It was a way for her to clear her mind and just enjoy the feel of the water washing all of the stress and the worries away from her tired body. However, at that moment she didn't have any time and pushed her shower curtain aside so that she could step inside and start washing her body.

As she was shampooing her long golden locks, she got to thinking about the singer that was in the next room, more than likely destroying something as well as waiting. Lucy really didn't know what to think of Natsu. He was constantly surprising her every time she came into contact with him and she didn't know what to expect each and every time; given there haven't been many times to begin with so far. Lucy rinsed her hair of the shampoo and began to work some conditioner in. The singer, loathed she was to admit it, was extremely good looking. The blush colored hair was a bit odd, but it worked for him, and Lucy was almost grateful that it wasn't a dye job. It was a sharp contrast to his tanned skin, that almost seemed like a golden color when in direct sunlight, and she felt a ping of jealousy as she thought of her own fair skin that burned far too easily. Natsu's tan was well deserved, from being outside all of the time, working, playing, and just having a fulfilled life. His body was also toned, she could tell.

When she had landed on top of him, right about to punch him and then discovered that it was Natsu of all people, in that moment she had noticed just how well his physique actually was. Lucy flushed at the memory as she rinsed off for the final time and exited the shower. She dried off as best as she could in the bathroom before wrapping herself up in her plush pink robe and then opened the door, steam wafting out as she did so. She took a quick glance around the room before spying pink hair on the couch with the TV on. Lucy judged him occupied enough so she walked into her bedroom to start getting dressed.

* * *

"This is it?"

"Yup."

"But it's a-"

"I know! Isn't it great?"

"Natsu, I'm not riding that."

"Aww... Luce come on! We're already late as it is!"

"I'm not getting on that thing! There isn't even a place to put my bag!" Lucy crossed her arms across her chest, a pout on her face.

Natsu rolled his eyes at his blonde companion before reaching for the luggage mount on the side of his glossy red and black motorcycle. It was one of the first things he did when the band started to get more and more gigs. He had saved up practically everything, besides his food and Happy savings, to be able to afford it and within two years had finally managed to get the bike of his dreams. That is until they came out with a better one that he fell in love with, he snickered. It didn't surprise him that she hadn't seen the mounts, seeing as they matched the lines of the bike seamlessly. Popping it open, he quickly yanked the bag from Lucy's shoulder and shoved it inside before closing it again only to turn around and raise an eyebrow. "Anymore questions, princess?"

He smirked as he caught sight of her frown before grabbing his black spare helmet and coming closer to her.

"Wait!"

Natsu was severely tempted to roll his eyes again but resisted the urge to do so. "What is it now?"

"I can't ride that thing with a dress on." Lucy stated bluntly.

The pinkette stared at the blonde for a total of ten seconds before he sputtered out a laugh. "Really, Lucy? Who knew you were such a girl." He stated before coming closer to her. He picked her up by her waist and plopped her down on his bike without a second thought. "Just tuck your dress under your butt and between your thighs and you'll be fine."

Lucy was blushing a brilliant shade of red by this point and simply glowered at him as she did as he said. Usually she would be spitting fire at him by this point, but the thought of seeing Levy, Erza and Cana made her hold her tongue. Honestly she was terrified of being on the bike, seeing as she had never been on one before. They always fascinated her but at the same time, scared her. She knew how dangerous they could be after seeing enough news reports and her own research. Subjecting herself to the inevitable she waited for the singer to hop on but squeaked softly when something was shoved on her head instead.

"It's a good thing I had a spare." Natsu said offhandedly as he leaned in closer to her face so that he could adjust the straps. When he became level with her face to do so, Lucy immediately noticed that there wasn't a glimmer of the childlike Natsu to be found, his eyes more serious as he made sure that the helmet was on properly. Her heart warmed at the sight of how caring he was to make sure that she was safe before he leaned away from her with a small grin. "Alright! Can you hear me?" He asked her after he was sure that the helmet wasn't going anywhere and she nodded almost dumbly. "Good, it's about a two hour drive, so it'll take a little bit but luckily, there are receivers in the helmet so that we can talk if you have any questions, ok? I'm gonna get my own helmet on and we'll test it out a little bit before we actually leave."

He then grabbed a red helmet that was hanging on one of the handlebars and smoothly slid it onto his head, hiding his pink colored locks. There was a slight buzzing noise in her ear when she suddenly heard his voice. "Can you hear me?" Lucy gave him a quick nod and she frowned when she heard him sigh a little. "Luce, you need to talk, I need to make sure that I can hear you too. So can you hear me alright?"

"Y-yeah, I can hear you..."

"Alright! I'm fired up now!" Natsu pumped his fist in the air once before slipping onto the bike in front of her. "Ok, Lucy, I need you to wrap your arms around my waist ok? Tight enough so that I can feel the pressure of you there, but not tight enough for you to squeeze the life out of me."

Lucy hesitantly wrapped her arms around Natsu's waist. Her touch was light like he asked but she made sure to put just enough force behind it to show that she was there and she grinned as she heard him praise her. She was just starting to feel more comfortable on the bike when it suddenly started to softly vibrate from underneath her. He had started the motorcycle.

And she froze.

"Luce?"

She distantly heard her name being called.

"Luce? Lucy!"

She gulped before answering. "N-Natsu?"

"Good grief woman." She heard his exasperated reply. "Take a deep breath ok? You're doing great!" The girl suddenly felt a hand on her hip though as it dragged her forward so that her front was flushed up against his back. "That's better. I'm going to start moving the bike ok?"

It was then that Lucy realized that Natsu was putting emphasis on everything he was doing or saying. He was constantly reassuring her and making sure that she knew she was doing well. He had barely moved until he had heard her replies as he explained what he was doing. Natsu was being extremely considerate of her to make sure that she was comfortable with what they were doing and it made her smile at his thoughtfulness. Despite the last two meetings that she truly had with the singer, he was extremely patient with her when it really counted.

"A-alright..." Lucy hesitantly replied back and she closed her eyes tightly as she felt a breeze starting to rush by her, her blonde hair lifting in the wind lightly. After a few more minutes she felt the motorcycle gain speed which made her tighten her arms around Natsu's waist.

"Ack! Luce, you're squeezin' too tight!"

"S-sorry!" Lucy murmured and laid her head on his back her eyes still tightly closed.

"Open your eyes Lucy..." She heard his voice softly murmur to her, a twinge of amusement in his voice.

Taking a leap of faith, she cautiously opened her eyes and looked over his shoulder. Lucy's eyes widened as she saw everything rushing by her in a flash, she hardly felt the wind thanks to Natsu's body in front of her and his warmth. She watched as everything blurred by, she couldn't distinguish any trees or other cars and buildings and that's when a laugh bubbled up from deep inside her as the adrenaline made itself known in her body. "Wow!"

"I know right!" She heard the crackling of the receiver as Natsu spoke. "If we keep this pace up, it won't take too long."

"This is just amazing!" Lucy giggled and moved her arms from around his waist to only grasp his hips in her hands so she could get a better look at where they were going. "Hey Natsu?"

"Hm?"

"Can we go faster?"

She could hear the grin in his voice when he spoke next. "Now you're talking!" He revved the engine up and in less than a second they were racing off, passing all of the other cars.

Natsu heard the tinkling of laughter in his ear through his receiver and his grin widened. Lucy needed to smile more. She was always too serious and he was glad that he brought his bike instead of his car. The girl needed to branch out more and experience more of what life had to offer. He knew he had taken a chance with the bike but was happy to know that he made the right decision when he heard her laughing again.

Before either of them knew it, they arrived at the giant beach house that looked to be three stories high. She supposed that it needed to be as big as it was to accommodate all the people that Natsu said was going to be there. On the trip there, he had explained that it was the Strauss' beach vacation home and that the Strauss' were also close friends of the band. Apparently they had all grown up together until the band got famous and couldn't make it half of the time to the beach with their friends, so it was also a sort of reunion for everyone. Natsu unlatched the mount that carried her bag and flung it over his shoulder before securing the latch again and then placing a tarp over top it. Lucy reached for her bag but Natsu evaded her fingers with a smirk before running inside the house.

"Yo! We're here!" He yelled out as Lucy trailed behind him, a scowl on her face.

"Lu-chan!" Levy squealed as she ran over to the blonde and encased her in a tight hug. "It feels like it's been forever!"

"Levy, we went out to lunch yesterday." Lucy reminded her blue haired friend.

"Oh yea..."

Lucy giggled and returned the hug and then she wrinkled her nose in discomfort as someone came around behind her.

"Lu-Lu!"

"Cana! Stop grabbing my boobs!"


End file.
